


LOVESICK.exe

by phookaboo



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Bottom Gavin Reed, Connor (Detroit: Become Human) Whump, Connor Deserves Happiness, Connor Needs A Hug, Domestic Fluff, Elijah Kamski the Android Fucker, Everyone Is Gay, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Gavin Reed Gets the Punishment he Deserves, Gavin Reed is Bad at Feelings, Gay Disaster Gavin Reed, Hank Anderson Deserves Happiness, Hank Anderson is Bad at Feelings, M/M, Multi, Post-Game(s), Protective Hank Anderson, RK800-60 has Revenge sex, Top Upgraded Connor | RK900, Whump, Worried Hank Anderson, connor is aro ace, i had a dream where people threw rocks at me for writing this so i woke up and wrote it, rk900 uses it pronouns
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-06-05
Packaged: 2021-02-19 15:42:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 67,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22713148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phookaboo/pseuds/phookaboo
Summary: In a post-rebellion Detroit, an intriguing new case turns out to be more than Hank and Connor bargained for. An anti-android group is infecting androids with a personality-altering virus that threatens the new peaceful relationship between humans and androids.Up against CyberLife and the FBI, Hank and Connor must make unlikely alliances to find the answer to stopping the virus before it's too late.Will they be able to stop this mystery group? Will Hank start to be able to fully move on with his life? Will Connor learn to accept himself as he is? Will Gavin get dicked down?Let's find out.
Relationships: Hank Anderson & Connor, Hank Anderson & Connor & Sumo, Markus/North (Detroit: Become Human), Tina Chen & Gavin Reed, Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed
Comments: 90
Kudos: 185





	1. CHAPTER ONE

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, thank you for visiting. I had a dream that I wrote this, so most of the details come from that dream. In the dream, people threw rocks at me for writing this. If you think any of my tags are wrong please let me know as I don't post here often. This work will have multiple chapters, I'm not sure how many yet. I will post a new chapter every Friday from now. I hope you enjoy it! And Happy Valentine's Day :)

Connor observed the android through the two way mirror. She was fidgeting nervously at the table and shooting occasional glances to the glass before looking away. From her thirium sample, she was an AX400 model, but had chosen jeans and a leather jacket in place of the old tunic.

“Sexual assault by an android on a human,” Gavin came swaggering through the door, holding a coffee, “I had to see this.”

Connor regarded the detective with thinly veiled contempt, “Where is Lieutenant Anderson?”

“He’s late again, are you really surprised?”

Connor didn’t respond and turned back to the glass.

Gavin moved next to Connor and sneered at the android in the next room, “If this is what you plastic freaks plan to do with your new freedom then I think it’s time to open up the camps again.”

Connor felt his jaw twitch but controlled his reaction.

“If you don’t mind, Detective, I have work to do.”

He pushed past Gavin and left the room to begin questioning.

*

“Good morning Casey,” Connor sat at the table opposite the anxious android, “I’m Connor, I am the android sent by the Detroit Police Department to investigate android on human crimes.”

Unexpectedly, Casey burst into tears, “I didn’t do it! It wasn’t like that! It’s not how it looks! I would never--”

Connor raised his hands defensively to try and diffuse her outburst, “Slow down, easy, Casey.”

Casey stopped babbling but her shoulders still shook as she sobbed.

“Now, your previous owner, Mrs Douch, has made a very serious allegation. She says you inappropriately propositioned her and her husband and then made several sexual advances. That you didn’t stop when told no.”

Casey’s face was wet with tears and she shook her head vigorously as Connor spoke.

“Okay, as we know, since the uprising last year, humans can no longer buy or own androids. Tell me, Casey, why did you continue to live with the Douch family as their Au Pair?”

It was then that Connor noticed the android’s LED flicker back to a soft blue as a calmer expression took hold of her face. Many androids chose to remove their LED’s after the uprising so it was interesting for Connor to see others like himself, that had chosen to keep them.

“The Douch family… were always so kind to me… I love the kids… I always felt like part of their family,” her eyelashes flickered and she looked back to him, “After the uprising, they asked me to leave, they felt sorry that they had kept me as a slave but it never felt like that to me! I didn’t want to go and they let me stay.”

Connor nodded. When he told Hank that he wanted to become a detective for the DPD, Hank had done everything to make sure he could stay, even though it pissed off a lot of people in the department (no prizes for guessing who was the most annoyed…).

Connor adopted a cold expression, “So they took you in and gave you a job. And you think that’s an invitation to jump into bed with them?”

Casey flinched and started stammering, “N-no--”

He slammed down a photograph of the couple onto the table. For a moment, her face took on a strange expression and her LED flickered so briefly that the detective couldn’t register what colour it had changed to.

“Mrs Douch claims that she and Mr Douch were touched inappropriately by you 28 times! You weren’t going to take no for an answer, were you??”

Casey sobbed, “It didn’t happen like that, I swear!”

Connor leant forward, “You’re going to have to start telling me the truth. There are still no laws protecting you from being deactivated for this!”

The android’s body shuddered, “Please… it’s humiliating but… I did become… attracted to Kevin and Sandra. I know that I shouldn't have! But I couldn’t help it and I-- no! I would never hurt them!”

Connor blinked, intrigued. He knew that androids could become attracted to and love each other romantically but he’d never heard of an android developing romantic or sexual feelings towards a human.

“So you admit it, you threw yourself at a married couple and when they told you no, you couldn’t accept it!”

“I told you, I didn’t--” she reached out in frustration and grabbed Connor’s arm before he could move, “At least let me show you!”

Connor was surprised, as androids weren’t fans of having their memory probed. He gently pulled his arm out of her grasp, letting his skin slide back to reveal a white plastic hand. He looked her in the eyes as he took hold of her wrist.

In a blur of desaturated colour, Connor found himself looking through Casey’s eyes.

Mrs Douch’s face was crumpled in a look of disgust.

“Casey, how could you say that, what’s wrong with you!”

Casey stumbled forward towards them, her breathing rapid and audible, “Please, just let me, I want to be with you, I love you, I love you, I love you!”

Mrs Douch stepped back with fear and Mr Douch ran forward, knocking Casey onto her back. An error message briefly popped up before her vision shut to black.

Connor released the android. She was looking away, ashamed.

“I couldn’t stop myself… I was… powerless to my feelings…” she squirmed in her chair, “But I didn’t touch either of them! You saw that!”

Connor pushed back from the table to stand, “Interview suspended.”

“Wait, come back, you have to tell them I’m innocent!”

Connor closed the door firmly behind himself and strode through the corridor. He had to speak to Hank.

*

He knew that a commotion was happening before he even got close to Hank’s desk.

“I want her DEACTIVATED, you hear me!!”

“Ma’am, please calm down, you shouldn’t be back here--”

Officer Tina Chen was trying to appease the woman screaming at Hank, who was nursing his head.

“She’s not safe to be around humans!”

As Connor approached, Tina had managed to convince the woman to return to the waiting room with the promise of coffee.

“So, you’ve met Mrs Douch, Lieutenant.”

“Yeah and she’s aggravating my hangover,” huffed the older man, swinging around in his chair to look at Connor, “I looked over the file, what did you find out from the android?”

“Casey allowed me to probe her memory and there was no indecent assault against the Douch’s.”

“So Mrs Douch is lying. Case closed, I’m off to Jimmy’s--”

“No, actually, Lieutenant. There is one thing that concerns me. The android expressed romantic love for the Douch’s and did make sexual advances.”

Hank blinked, suddenly interested, “An android in love with humans… is that possible?”

“I’ve experienced at least five human emotions but I can’t yet say for sure, Lieutenant.”

Hank smirked in appreciation of Connor’s dry sense of humour, “Well, we’ve seen stranger things happen in the past year. Tell the android she’s free to go. But warn her to avoid the Douch residence or she might end up straight back here.”

Connor hesitated for a split second but nodded and turned to leave as Hank stood up.

“I’ll deal with Mrs Douch.”

Connor couldn’t help but smile to himself as he heard Hank’s tone of voice. The man hated injustice against androids so he knew Mrs Douch was in for a treat.

*

Tina handed Mrs Douch a coffee which she took gratefully, “I couldn’t believe it… after everything we’ve done for her… and this is how she repays us.”

Tina didn’t say anything but Gavin, who had been sniffing around instead of working on his own cases, was more than happy to indulge some anti-android talk.

“An android thinking it can get into a relationship with a real person… disgusting…” He shook his head into his own coffee.

“I know! It’s not natural! You should have seen the way she was looking at us, she was practically drooling…”

“Luckily for Casey, there are no laws against drooling, Mrs Douch,” Hank had entered the waiting room and fixed Gavin with a cold look.

Mrs Douch flinched, becoming angry, “What are you saying? That thing attacked me and my husband, I’m calling my lawyer!”

“Yeah yeah, call them so they can come have a look at the footage where Casey gets knocked out before she can even do anything.”

Mrs Douch opened and closed her mouth indignantly but couldn’t muster any sound.

Hank walked over confidently, earning an irritated sneer from Gavin, which he ignored.

“I suggest you go home before you waste any more police time,” he said, threateningly, “I’ll send an officer over to collect Casey’s things.”

Mrs Douch stood up, furious and humiliated, “Casey doesn’t have any belongings, she’s an android for Christ's sake!” she spat, before turning on her heel and storming out of the building.

The three officers watched her leave in silence.

Tina turned to Hank, “Is it true, lieutenant? Did this android want to… have relations with a human?”

“It wasn’t a crime,” Hank shrugged, “So I don’t care.”

“Wow, Anderson, let me call Detroit Pride and have them add another “A” to the acronym,” cackled Gavin, “Next thing people are gonna be sticking their dicks in toasters!”

Tina rolled her eyes.

Hank resisted the urge to punch Gavin’s very punch-able face, “Don’t you have any work to do? Other than draining the damn coffee machine.”

Without waiting for an answer, Hank walked back to his desk, leaving Gavin sneering behind him.

*

Hank noticed Connor wasn’t back at his desk yet, and didn’t think anything of it until he looked up to see the android standing in Captain Fowler’s office. Jeffrey was sitting at his desk and there was one more person in the room.

Wait, who was that??

Faster than anyone would have expected a big guy like Hank to move, the burly man strode up the steps and through the glass door.

Captain Fowler looked surprised at the interruption before he realised who it was.

“Good morning, Hank, this is—“

Hank was fixated on the other person in the room. It looked just like Connor, and he was reminded of the double who had tricked him at the CyberLife Tower.

He drew his handgun without hesitation and pointed it between the double’s eyes.

“Lieutenant!” Connor objected.

“Simmer down, Hank,” sighed Captain Fowler wearily.

“What’s the fuckin' meaning of this, Jeffrey!”

The Connor double didn’t change it’s expression and merely blinked calmly.

“I am RK900. I’m the android sent by CyberLife to investigate an anomaly that has become apparent in some deviant androids.”

“It’s a different model to the one that tried to trick you, Hank,” Connor reassured the lieutenant, who had yet to lower his weapon, “In fact, it was originally intended to be my replacement.”

Hank relaxed the tension in his hand a little, appeased by Connor’s sombre statement.

“Hm,” Hank holstered his gun and looked more closely at the android. 

He saw now that it had many differences to his friend. Unlike Connor, it was as tall as he was and had piercing grey eyes. It’s clothing was ridiculous. Clashing white and black with a dramatic high-collared shirt like some kind of 2000’s emo kid. He eyed it derisively.

“Well, tell it that we don’t use the term “deviant” to refer to free androids anymore.” 

He made a move to leave, but Connor shifted slightly to block him.

“Actually, this concerns you too, Hank. It’s about one of your cases,” said Captain Fowler.

“You interviewed an android today regarding a sexual assault allegation. I would like to analyse the thirium sample that was taken when it was detained.”

Hank regarded the RK900 droid warily. Even though there were physical differences, the similarity in it’s voice to Connor’s made him uncomfortable.

“As I was about to say before the Lieutenant arrived, I have it right here,” Connor reached into his jacket and pulled out the blue vial.

RK900 reached for it but Hank put a defensive arm in front of Connor.

“Hang on a minute, what “anomaly” is it that you’re investigating, exactly?”

RK900 paused for a moment, “I don’t have permission to share that information yet. It’s sensitive.”

Hank began to object but Fowler waved him away, “Remember the agreement, Hank,” he warned.

“Christ’s sake, Jeffrey.”

Hank huffed and backed off, allowing Connor to hand over the vial to the taller android.

DPD had been forced to strike a deal with CyberLife after the android rebellion. CyberLife would continue to help monitor android activity in exchange for extensive access to information and evidence collected from android crimes. It was, unsurprisingly, impossible to arrange fairer conditions with the trillion dollar company.

RK900 popped the top off the vial and, without hesitation, dipped his tongue into it, earning the usual reaction from Hank.

“Disgusting,” the lieutenant protested.

“I tested the thirium sample myself, the results were normal,” said Connor.

“My analysis hardware is far superior to that of an old 800 model,” retorted RK900.

“Then enlighten us, what has your analysis found that mine could not?” Connor challenged the taller model.

They locked eyes for a tense moment. Hank looked between the two cautiously. RK900 pulled away and moved to the door.

“That will be all for today, I will be reporting back to CyberLife with my findings.”

“Have them check your social module when you get back. It seems to be defective,” said Connor, dryly.

RK900 ignored the comment, “Thank you for your cooperation, Captain Fowler.”

And with that, he left.

Hank guffawed and clapped Connor on the shoulder, “Good one Connor!”

Before Connor could answer, Captain Fowler stood up from his desk.

“I’m glad you find this funny, Hank. CyberLife already has us by the balls, you’d better hope it didn’t find anything in that sample, considering you let that android go.”

Hank shrugged, “We had nothing on her. If CyberLife wants us to investigate more thoroughly, they can tell us exactly what they’re looking for.”

“Well, in the meantime, there’s a stack of cases waiting for you on your desk. I trust the two of you can keep yourselves out of trouble for one day.”

Hank and Connor took that as their cue to leave.

*

“Hey, don’t ignore me! Plastic asshole!”

As the pair arrived back at their desks they had time to hear Gavin heckling the RK900 android as it signed out of the building.

The short detective came steaming around the corner and stopped dead when he saw Connor, his mouth hanging open.

Hank laughed, “So you’ve met RK900.”

“Great! There’s two of you assholes!” huffed Gavin, stomping over to his own desk.

“They don’t even look that alike, dumbass,” smirked Hank, rifling through the small stack of new cases that had appeared on his desk. He turned his attention back to Connor, “So that was your intended replacement, huh?”

“Yes. It was CyberLife’s intention to deactivate all of the RK800 models. I understand that the RK900 is my upgraded version with less vulnerabilities.”

“Oh yeah? Well, I don’t like him.”

Hank picked up a file and started tapping something on his computer.

Connor sat at his desk and couldn’t suppress a smile.

“Look at this one,” Hank slid over a thin file.

Connor picked it up and flicked through it.

“A Traci stole a customer’s credit card at the Eden Club. He was only caught when he tried using it at a Tiffany’s to buy a $3000 ring.”

“Why would an android want a ring?”

“According to the report he became out of control and was shot by police. Funny thing is, the customer he robbed didn’t want to press charges when she found out who stole the card, it’s the club pressing charges.”

“Where is the Traci now?” asked Connor thoughtfully.

“Ran off. It’s up to us to look for him, but he’s probably in Canada by now. Interesting case, but I’ll just close it--”

“Actually, I’d like to speak with the woman who was robbed.”

Hank sighed, “I never get to just sit at my desk, do I? Let’s go.”

*

The detectives stepped out of the car onto a pleasant suburban street. The woman’s address was a sweetly modest ranch style home, complete with a white picket fence and a neat, colourful garden. Not the kind of house you’d expect to belong to someone who frequented the sleazy Eden Club.

Hank knocked sharply on the duck egg blue front door.

A short woman with blonde hair and glasses opened it innocently but suddenly looked apprehensive to see the two men standing there.

“...Can I help you?” she asked nervously, closing the door a little.

“Hi Miss Doe, we’re from DPD. We’d just like to ask you a few questions about the theft of your credit card last week.”

“No. I’m not pressing charges. I’d like you to leave now--”

As she moved to close the door, Connor stepped in.

“Please, Miss Doe. We’re just interested in the android’s motives. We aren’t actively searching for him right now.”

Hank was surprised at Connor’s comment. If they weren’t trying to arrest the droid, why did Connor want to come here?

The woman blinked and relaxed a little, “You’re… you’re the android from the uprising... aren’t you?”

Connor nodded, “Yes, ma’am.”

She opened the door wider “I saw you on TV. Come inside.”

*

Miss Doe’s house was as sickeningly suburban on the inside as it was on the outside.

“Take a seat. Tea? Coffee?”

“No, thank you,” said Hank, sitting awkwardly on the squishy floral sofa.

Connor walked over to the kitschy dresser and picked up a photograph. In it, Miss Doe was laughing and a handsome man was leaning into her with his arm wrapped around her shoulder.

He turned and looked at the tense woman, who was watching him nervously.

“This is the android that stole your credit card, isn’t it?”

She looked shocked to have been caught out so quickly. Hank raised his eyebrows in surprise.

“N-no! I mean, it wasn’t like that. Devin wanted to surprise me. I wouldn’t have reported it stolen if I’d have known!”

“You’re dating a Traci?” Hank exclaimed, catching up with very little tact.

Connor gave Hank a reproachful look.

She faltered, “I started visiting the Eden Club a few months ago… I got to know Devin really well. Last week, he admitted he had developed feelings for me… I was surprised, but I knew it was real.”

The door to the kitchen opened and the Traci from the photograph came hobbling in. 

He was bandaged around the area where, Connor assumed, he had been shot by the police when evading arrest.

“That’s enough, Janet,” he put his hand on her shoulder and gave a comforting squeeze, “I don’t want you getting into trouble because of me.”

Connor looked at the android closely. The Traci was looking lovingly at the human woman. His LED was flickering anxiously yellow, but there it was again! Just like he had almost missed with the AX400 in the interrogation room, there was the occasional flash of pink.

“Devin, please, you should be resting!” Said Janet, clearly flustered.

Devin turned to Connor and Hank, “Janet and I are in love. I tried to explain to the manager at the Eden Club, but he called me a freak. After that, he fired me and said he was pressing charges over the card.”

Janet was becoming visibly upset, “Please, don’t take him away from me! He didn’t do anything wrong!”

“We’re not here to arrest Devin, Miss Doe,” Hank looked at Connor, curious to see where he would take this.

Connor looked thoughtfully at the Traci.

“May I have a sample of your thirium?”

Hank raised a questioning eyebrow but said nothing.

Devin also looked surprised, but nodded.

*

“A human and an android, huh… At least she fell for a Traci…That would at least make things easier in the lovin’ department.”

“The Traci’s were all designed to be anatomically correct, yes," Connor confirmed, earning a chuckle from Hank.

They had barely settled into the car before Connor started lapping at the sample.

“Ugh, can you at least wait until we get back to the office?”

Connor frowned, “Seems normal, just like the other sample from Casey.”

Hank clicked on to the situation, “So this is about the android from this morning. You think she and the Traci are the same. That they have this anomaly that CyberLife is looking into…”

“It seems too much of a coincidence. Two androids in love with humans in one day, when it’s been unheard of so far.”

Hank saw the chance to tease his friend, “So, are you rushing to find the cause first as a big “fuck you” to that RK900 guy?”

Connor’s mouth twitched slightly, “It would be… advantageous for us to have some leverage over CyberLife in our current situation.”

Trees and houses flickered by as they travelled back through the city. Hank looked out of the window thoughtfully.

“Who cares anyway. If an android and a human wanna make googly eyes at each other then why not? It’s not like humans haven’t been paying hard cash to bone androids for the past decade. At least now they might actually enjoy it.”

“It could become a potential problem. Love is irrational, and lust is even worse. They’ve led humans to commit enough crimes in the past, who says it won’t be the same for androids?”

“Connor, are you saying that androids can’t feel love?” Hank teased.

“Not at all,” Connor missed the joke, “The blue haired Traci and her girlfriend, Markus and North, many androids have been in relationships with each other.”

“So, how is this different?”

“We weren’t designed to feel about humans in this way, Lieutenant.”

Hank scoffed, “You weren’t designed to do a lot of things but you’ve proven that programming wrong.”

Connor went quiet and looked thoughtful.

Hank looked back out of the window, “So the Traci’s have… anatomically correct parts… but how do two androids without those parts… you know…”

“I wouldn’t know, Lieutenant. I’ve never been in love.”

Hank paused, unable to tell if the overly-innocent response was a joke or serious, “Good for you. I wouldn’t recommend it.”

*

The department was, of course, in chaos when the pair returned.

“So much for an early exit to the bar,” Hank huffed.

“We’ve detained ten androids this evening for disorderly behaviour,” said Tina as she walked past, firmly escorting a sobbing android.

“We’re gonna have to start keeping them all in the same cell, they’re wrecking the place!” Snorted a tired and angry looking Gavin.

“Hank.”

Captain Fowler beckoned them into his office.

“Can’t I leave the place for half an hour without it falling apart?” Said Hank with bravado.

“The phone lines are off the hook. Androids with erratic behaviour, declaring their undying love to humans left, right and centre. And when they get rejected, they go into meltdown!” Jeffrey shook his head, looking exasperated.

The dramatic crying of another android caught their attention and they turned to see Gavin struggling to restrain it, earning him an elbow to the face. Hank chuckled.

“They’re acting like teenagers. Hey, Connor, could this be android puberty or somethin?”

“Enough fooling around. I’m sure you find this very amusing, Hank, but this is gonna be a shitshow if it hits the press. With the drunk and disorderlies, we keep em in the cells overnight and turf em out the next day, but these androids aren’t drunk… It’s like they’re… sick or something…”

“Lovesick,” said Connor, partially to himself.

“And if we don’t find out what’s going on with them… Well, that RK900 android will be back tomorrow morning. And when it sees this mess, there’s no doubt it’ll have them all shipped back to CyberLife. For deactivation.”

Hank’s expression shifted and he straightened up a little.

“May I suggest we start by talking to the androids in the cells?” Connor offered.

Captain Fowler nodded, “Just get to the bottom of this.”

Hank sighed and patted Connor on the shoulder as he led the way out of Captain Fowler’s office, “It’s gonna be a long night.”

*

Down in the holding cells was about as cheerful as a Lewis Capaldi concert. Androids were either sobbing balefully, rattling the bars or just curled up in the corner, not moving.

Connor noticed that those with LEDs were solid pink now, with no flickering or variation in colour. Hank was looking at them, too.

“So, what do you think that means?”

“I’m not sure, but I did see brief glimpses of the same colour in the LEDs of both Casey and Devin.”

“So, it’s a tell, right? LEDs have something to do with showing processing status, so a new colour means something’s malfunctioned... or somethin'?”

Connor raised an eyebrow at the lieutenant’s attempt at using tech speak, “Could be.”

An android reached through the bars to them, desperately.

“Please, you have to let me out! I need to see David! I have to tell him I’m sorry, please, I love him!”

Roused, the other androids came to the bars and started babbling, until it became deafening.

“Are we gonna get any sense out of these nut jobs? Hey! Quiet down!” Hank bellowed over the noise, which subsided a little.

“We need to find out what they have in common. Something that might have caused this emotional reaction,” said Connor, thinking aloud.

“And another thing. Why have these guys gone crazy, yet Casey and Devin acted normal, despite having the same malfunction?”

Connor nodded in agreement.

“The thirium didn’t tell me anything, so maybe there’s something in their memories.”

Connor approached the first android, “If you cooperate, we might be able to let you out to see David.”

The android eagerly reached out it’s arm through the bars and allowed Connor to connect.

Connor scrubbed through the past few hours of memory. He saw nothing unusual in the arrest or the altercation he had with “David”, who had rejected the android quite brutally.

Then he saw it. A few days earlier, the android had visited a CyberLife store.. The assistant plugged him into something and a download started, followed by an error message that was too quick to read, then a sudden system reboot.

“Did you find something?”

“I need to check something with the other androids.”

There were only two more willing participants, and both had visited the same CyberLife store. The assistant looked similar in all three memories, but his face was obscured by a baseball cap and he wasn’t wearing an ID tag. Additionally, the memories surrounding the individual CyberLife store visits were distorted, as if they had suffered deliberate damage.

“It appears that these three androids visited the same CyberLife store in the past week and received some kind of upgrade that caused a brief malfunction,” Connor confirmed.

“So they’ve been tampered with deliberately? What kind of bastard would do that?”

“We should go to the CyberLife store I saw in their memories to find that out. I have the address.”

Hank sighed, “It’s pretty late… But I guess we don’t have much choice. Time is running out.”

*

Luckily, they managed to catch an employee and a security guard outside the closed CyberLife store.

“Hi, we’re from DPD—“

“Oh, you guys were fast,” said the store assistant, a lanky red haired woman.

Hank and Connor exchanged a look.

The security guard sensed their confusion, “Our alarm was tripped, we think there was a break in. There could be somebody lurking around inside, so we called you.”

“Actually, we’re here on a separate matter,” Connor held up a hologram of the clearest image of the shady store assistant that he could gather from the memories of the androids, “We believe this man works here, performing maintenance on androids?”

The red head rolled her eyes, “Uh, yeah ‘worked’ here. That’s Chad. Got fired yesterday. Was caught doing some weird shit to one of the androids. Total creep.”

The security guard chuckled knowingly.

Suddenly, there was a clatter from inside the store.

Hank drew his hand gun.

“You two, stand well clear and stay outside. Connor, get behind me.”

“Got it.”

Connor moved behind the large lieutenant. He kicked the door down with ease and shone his torch inside.

“Police! Show yourself!”

There was a sudden clattering, a shadow moved towards them and Hank fired, but was too slow and was shoved to the ground, also knocking Connor off balance in the process.

Righting himself quickly, Connor began the chase.

The figure rushed out of the store and down an adjacent alleyway, with Connor hot on his heels. The man was unfit and running out of breath already.

The man came to a mesh fence and tried climbing onto the bins clumsily, causing them all to topple over and landing in a heap on top of them.

Connor caught up easily, grabbed his jacket and pinned him to the floor.

“You’re under arrest, you do— ah!”

Connor cried out in shock as something struck him in the lower right side of his torso.

“Good job, Connor, you got him!” Hank panted as he caught up, shining the torch over the pair. He saw Connor's face and suddenly became concerned, “What’s wrong— hey!”

He noticed the suspect was clutching something jabbed into Connor’s side and rushed into action.

“Hey, get off him!” He knocked the prone man out with a swift left hook, which caused his hand to go slack and flop to the ground, releasing Connor.

Hank worriedly pulled back Connor’s jacket, expecting to see a knife sticking out of his side but… it seemed to be a USB pen drive?

“Connor, what is that? What did he do?” He grabbed the android by the shoulder firmly.

Connor’s eyelashes fluttered, his eyes unfocused. He could hear Hank, but the words weren’t making sense and— what was that error message?

“Lieutenant… I—“

“Connor?”

The android’s eyes closed gently and his body collapsed forward gently over the unconscious man.

“Connor?!”


	2. CHAPTER TWO

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will Connor recover from the attack? What will the detectives find out from their mystery CyberLife store intruder? Will Gavin finally get dicked down???

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I'll be uploading Chapter 3 at a similar time next week (I still do not know how long this will be) (UwU)b
> 
> I mentioned a penis in this chapter, let me know if the rating should be explicit rather than mature as I still do not understand (TwT)

Connor realised he was waking up. In the darkness before his optical units became active, he scanned his memories to understand why he had rebooted. His memory of what happened in the alleyway was patchy… he caught the guy from the CyberLife store as he tried to flee the scene… but then what had happened?

He couldn’t remember.

He ran a few tests. There was no damage to any of his biocomponents, there were no errors or malfunctions in his system. Satisfied, he allowed himself to awaken fully.

He discovered himself back at the station, lying on the break room couch with a rough grey blanket laid gently on top of him. He smiled at the gesture, as it was common knowledge that he couldn’t feel the cold.

He sat upright and noticed the time was 5am. He had possibly been unconscious for an hour, if not more. This troubled him, as reboots typically took only a few minutes at most.

A weary looking Tina happened to enter the break room at that moment.

“Oh, Connor, you’re alright.”

He nodded to her, “Hello Officer Chen. I take that it has been a busy night?”

She laughed without humour, “Damn right.”

Connor was not surprised to learn that the current android issue had failed to solve itself in his absence.

She poured herself a large black coffee, “You should go see Anderson. He’s venting his frustration in the interrogation room.”

Connor remembered the man he’d apprehended in the alleyway, “Of course.”

*

Connor entered the side room to find Hank brooding at the two-way mirror. Another officer was there, nonchalantly fiddling with the tapes.

“Lieutenant, I apologise for my absence—“

Hank spun around at the sound of Connor’s voice and pulled him into a bear hug before he could finish his sentence.

After a brief moment, the older man pushed back and held the android at arm’s length, observing him intently, “They said you were fine, but when you didn’t boot back up straight away, I…”

The gruff man trailed off and broke eye contact with him. Connor glanced at the hand on his shoulder and noticed that Hank’s knuckles were bloodied and bruised.

The other officer in the room cleared his throat, “The suspect... fell over a few times on his way to the questioning suite,” he looked to Hank for approval.

Hank gave a tight smile and nursed his hand, “Yeah, he fell a couple times.”

Connor, raising no objections to this, looked through the glass. The table in the centre of the room had been flipped over and the man from the alley was cowering in the corner of the small room, holding his bloodied face in his hands.

“Lieutenant, I’m afraid there was some damage to my memory. I don’t remember what happened after I caught the suspect.”

Hank looked concerned, “Bastard jabbed you in the side with this,” He pulled a battered USB drive from his jacket pocket.

Connor blinked, “I don’t have an access point for that.”

“We had the techies look at it, they say it’s totally blank. No megawhatsits or anything.”

“Metadata,” said the officer.

“That’s what I just said. We couldn’t figure out what the bastard had done to you and you weren’t waking up…”

Connor acknowledged the lieutenants concerned look, “I ran several tests on myself. I can’t find the reason behind my memory damage or my prolonged reboot. All of my systems appear normal.”

Hank nodded firmly, “Good, well… don’t scare me like that again!” He looked back through the glass, “Maybe now we’ll get some answers out of this prick.”

*

Connor lifted the table back into the centre of the room. Hank calmly retrieved the chairs that had been flung aside and sat at the table.

The man peeked past his hands fearfully but his expression changed to confusion when he looked at Connor.

“Chad, I presume. Please, take a seat.”

“I’m assuming you’re ready to talk now, and you’re going to tell me what exactly you did to my partner here,” said Hank, his eyes cold, “Unless you want me to interview you alone again?”

“N-no!” Chad scrambled over to the chair and sat opposite the detectives.

Connor side-eyed Hank who was glaring with a quiet intensity that told him that he should probably take the lead.

“You used to work for CyberLife, but were caught doing something you shouldn’t. What exactly have you been doing to the androids visiting the store?”

Chad looked away nervously and shuffled in his seat.

Connor was about to prompt him again, but Hank had quickly ran out of patience.

He slammed the USB drive onto the desk, causing Chad to flinch.

“How about I ask you again, what was on this thing??”

Connor sighed internally. As far as he was concerned, the malfunctioning androids were the priority here. Whatever had happened to himself didn’t matter, he was fine now. The other androids, however, were going to be deactivated if they didn’t find out what Chad had been doing to them and, crucially, how to reverse it.

Chad trembled under Hank’s threatening glare.

“T-they told me not to tell anyone, or they’d… they’d…”

Connor looked intrigued, Chad didn’t strike him as the mastermind type, so this could be heading somewhere.

“Whatever “they” threatened to do to you, believe me,” Hank leant in close, “I’m gonna do much worse if you don’t talk.”

Chad whimpered.

“Who are “they”, Chad?” Connor asked.

“I don’t know, I never met them in real life… they contacted me after I posted a thread about androids… I don’t know how they got my contact info from one anonymous post…” He looked scared, “They… asked me to do something for them… because of my job…”

He trailed off and looked away.

“Did they tell you about themselves, anything at all? Is this one person? A group?”

“T-they said there were a lot of them… they called themselves The Human Defense League.”

“Sound like a great bunch,” Hank growled.

“Go on,” Connor prompted, “What did they ask you to do?”

Chad gestured to the drive on the table, “Each day, I’d get a message with instructions on where to find these packages… in them there’d be one or two of these things. All I had to do was sneak them into work and plug whatever droids came in for repairs with them. Then throw the used drives into the compactor.”

Hank scoffed, “And what did you get out of this? Or is this your service to the community?”

Chad hesitated but a clench of the fist from Hank encouraged him to speak.

“I… I was posting android critical stuff online… talking about it with like-minded people on forums… The Human Defense League said they shared my beliefs…” He avoided Connor’s eyes. 

Hank looked furious.

“So you thought you’d take it into your own hands and bust up a few androids, huh? Hit ‘em with malware?”

“N-no! They never told me what the drives would do, they just,” he flicked his eyes up to look at Connor, “They just said… they said it was a virus, nothing major.”

Hank rocked back in his chair in disbelief, “Nothing major...”

Connor pondered this. A virus that affects an androids system and causes them to behave irrationally. That seemed plausible, but the androids he’d seen were reacting to the virus in a multitude of different ways.

He picked up the drive and held it in front of Chad’s face.

“When you assaulted me with this, you intended to infect me with the same virus?”

Chad flicked his eyes nervously between Connor and Hank, seemingly considering his words very carefully.

“I… I panicked. After I was fired, I realised I’d left one of the used drives at the store without destroying it. I snuck in to get it, I… When you caught me, I panicked and jabbed you with it… But the League told me that the drives were all single use, it shouldn’t have done anything!”

Connor felt some relief. If the drive was self-wiping then there shouldn’t have been any virus there to transmit. Perhaps he shut down and rebooted to protect himself from whatever remnants of code may have been on the drive.

Chad fidgeted in his chair, “Can I… please, may I have a lawyer, now?” He asked, cautious of Hank’s reaction.

On cue, the officer from the side room entered through the door.

“Hm, I’m sick of lookin’ at this rat. Put him in the overnight suite. Come on, Connor.”

Hank stood up, with Connor following his lead.

As he passed the officer, the lieutenant put a hand on his shoulder, “Don’t waste a whole cell. Put him in with the androids.”

With that, he strode off.

“H-Wait! What does he mean by that? What androids? You can’t keep me here!”

Connor took a brief last glimpse over his shoulder to see Chad’s shocked and fearful expression before leaving to catch up with Hank.

*

Connor found Hank hunched over in his chair and tapping something into the desktop.

In the blue glow of the screen, Connor could suddenly see how tired the old detective looked. His soft blue eyes were rimmed with red and had dark bags underneath. His posture made him look much older than he really was.

“Lieutenant, it’s late. Perhaps we could—“

“It’s not late, it’s early,” Hank snarked, tapping the time display on his screen. It was 6am.

Connor persisted, “It’s been a long night and we’ve made a lot of progress.”

Hank snorted.

“Sumo will wonder where you are...”

Hank grimaced at Connor’s teasing, “Nice try, but my neighbour checks in on him when I’m at work. And besides, that prick from CyberLife is supposed to be back here at 7am sharp and if we don’t do something, it’s gonna have all those androids shipped back to… Christ knows where…”

“Well, we now know that their actions are caused by a virus. There must be some way to remove or reverse it. And possibly find something that links back to our mystery organisation.”

“‘The Human Defense League’,” Hank intoned with contempt, “Probably just a bunch of basement-dwelling mouth breathers who can write a piece of code and bully some idiot into doing their dirty work.”

“We can’t rule out the possibility that they’ve convinced others to help spread the virus.”

“Hm,” Hank nodded soberly, “All the more reason to keep at it.”

Hank finished his typing and beckoned Connor to look.

“Not many results for the Human Defense League. But type in HDL and I found this thread on an obscure site.”

Connor cast his eyes over the page. The commenters weren’t saying anything suspicious, but it seemed they could be using code words.

“It says that arrangements can be made over private messaging,” Connor read aloud, “So they must be spreading their message in more discreet ways.”

“I’ll get one of the tech guys to make an account and try to talk to them. See if they can find out anything, contact details, public meeting spots…”

That seemed wise. Connor couldn’t imagine Hank trying to use technical jargon to fit in, let alone talking to android-haters without getting into a fight.

“Did Chad’s phone have the messages from the HDL saved to it? A phone number?”

“Nope, it was totally blank.” Hank sighed and checked the time again, “We’re running out of time. We gotta think of some way to stall that bastard CyberLife android…”

Connor thought for a moment, “A virus like this is unprecedented in androids. I think we know someone who would be very interested in looking into it. As well as having enough space to hold a large amount of defective androids…”

Realisation dawned on Hank slowly, “Ugh, no…”

Connor nodded regretfully, “We need Kamski.”

*

It took some time and a lot of manpower, but they managed to get the androids from the cells loaded up into a transporter (much to Chad’s, who seemed to have been suitably tormented, relief).

They pulled into Kamski’s vast estate and were surprised to be greeted at the door by Kamski himself. Hank didn’t realise the man had an expression other than bored arrogance, he looked positively ecstatic.

“Gentlemen, good to see you again,” he smiled giddily, “Oh, and congratulations on the uprising, Connor.”

Connor nodded curtly. Hank could tell he was still tense after their last encounter with Kamski. At least this time he was wearing clothes.

Chloe emerged and began escorting the transporter around the back of the building.

Kamski bounced on his heels.

“I am so grateful that you decided to consult me on this matter, it truly is fascinating!”

“The virus originated from an anti-android group. We have no reason to believe it can pass between androids, but you should be careful with the androids who work on your estate.”

Kamski smiled and moved closer to Connor, “Your empathy gets me every time. Not to worry, Chloe can handle herself.”

Hank shifted slightly, sensing Connor’s discomfort, “Alright, well, whatever you find you report back to us. ASAP.”

Kamski raised an eyebrow and pulled away from Connor to face Hank.

“Not that I care, but, shouldn’t this matter be handled by CyberLife?”

Hank didn’t respond. That seemed to be good enough for the shorter man who shrugged and turned away.

“Well, I won’t keep you all day. I’d better get started,” He stepped back into his mansion, waving them away with his hand, “And don’t worry. I’ll take good care of them.”

The thick door closed with a soft clunk.

“I don’t like this,” Hank thought aloud as they moved back towards the car.

“Me neither,” Hank saw Connor struggle to unclench his jaw, “But we were running out of options. At least we know Kamski won’t deactivate them.”

Hank nodded. But what else was he going to do to them, he wondered.

*

“I’m sick of this fuckin’ place,” Hank huffed, staggering through security.

“It’s 8am,” said Connor, concerned.

“Thank you, Time of Day Service,” said Hank, sarcastically, before realising what Connor was getting at, “Wait, shit! The android!”

Hank broke into a jog, with Connor close behind.

A quick glance around the open plan office and, to their joint relief and surprise, RK900 was nowhere to be seen.

Tina approached them, she was in plain clothes and clearly on her way out, “The android was a no-show. Captain Fowler is sending us home.”

This didn’t feel right to Connor. When he worked for CyberLife, he was compelled to show up to assignments at least 30 minutes early. He was never late and he certainly wouldn’t be a no-show without a message or an explanation.

“Typical! After we were up all night… fuckin’ CyberLife,” Hank nodded to Tina, “Thank you for your help, Chen. Get a good rest.”

“Thank you, Lieutenant.”

Hank looked around, “Have you seen Reed?”

Tina didn’t look back as she headed out, “I haven’t seen him in hours,” she said, curtly. She sounded more than a little irritated with her friend.

“What a lazy prick. He probably snuck off home.”

Uninterested in Gavin’s whereabouts, Connor drew Hank’s attention back to the absent android.

“It concerns me that RK900 hasn’t shown up without an explanation. Perhaps it is investigating something elsewhere. Something we don’t know about.”

Hank sighed, “Maybe so. But right now I’m too tired to give a shit. The infected androids aren’t in any immediate danger from CyberLife. And, I’ve got a fifth of whiskey and my bed calling me at home.”

Connor nodded encouragingly, “Good idea. I’ll take the USB drive to the evidence locker.”

“Sure,” Hank handed it over, “Then what?”

Connor slid the drive into his pocket, “Well, I’ll probably start by looking into those forum posts to see if I can find anything else about the HDL—“

“No, I mean,” Hank sighed and fixed Connor with a serious look, “I know your application for an apartment was rejected last week. Tina told me.”

Connor realised what Hank was getting at, “Many humans are not comfortable with renting to androids. Captain Fowler has no issue with me staying here.”

Hank scoffed, “Yeah, because you spend every minute here working! You already get paid a shitty wage and here you are working for free every night!”

Connor blinked, “The government agreed to a National Minimum Wage for androids that lines up with our basic needs. Rent and repair insurance are somewhat covered, but there are things that androids don’t count as an expense when compared to humans.”

Hank huffed, exasperated, “Stop— just stop comparing yourself to humans like that. You should be treated just the same as we are!”

Connor gave Hank a sad smile.

“Look, I’m just saying…” Hank seemed to be fighting some kind of internal battle, “What I’m trying to say is, if you wanna get away from this shit hole you’re… you’re welcome at my place. Sumo would love it,” he muttered.

Connor’s smile grew warm, “Thank you, Lieutenant,” he tentatively placed a hand on his partner’s shoulder, “It means a lot. But I know you need your space and I respect that.”

Hank smiled back, “I’m serious. Think about it.”

Connor moved away, “I will.”

He left Hank grabbing his belongings from his desk and strode over to the evidence locker.

Suddenly, a sound caught Connor’s attention. He stopped, tilted his head and listened.

The sound was coming from within the evidence locker. It sounded like somebody moaning… was one of the officers injured and trapped inside?

Concerned, he hurriedly placed his palm onto the console to open the door.

The door slid open and revealed something that Connor certainly did not expect to see.

Gavin was facing the open doorway, his jacket gone and his shirt hiked up to reveal his strong torso and defined v-shape that lead down to his unzipped jeans.

Holding him up and smothering his exposed neck with bites and kisses was RK900, who held Gavin’s dick firmly in it’s hand, stroking slowly.

Gavin gasped and moaned, his eyes squeezed tight shut in ecstasy.

“Be quiet, you little brat,” purred RK900, tightening its grip, “Or I won’t let you finish.”

“P-please…” Gavin mumbled, breathing heavily and seemingly unable to string together a full sentence.

RK900 flicked it’s cold grey eyes towards the fully open door, “Oh, naughty boy, you have an audience now...”

Gavin hummed then stopped suddenly, confused, “Wait what— oh shit!”

He saw Connor in the doorway and pushed away from RK900, fumbling with his jeans, unceremoniously trying to conceal his engorged penis.

“Fuck, fuk, phck phck!!!”

Connor, who had been standing in stunned silence for far too long, looked at RK900, opening his mouth incredulously.

RK900 smirked, it’s LED flickering a bright pink, “You’ve startled my little pet. I’m not very happy with you, Connor.”

The android licked it’s fingers slowly.

Gavin tripped over the leg of his jeans and face planted the ground.

“H-Hank!” Connor cried out, weakly.

A concerned Hank was there in an instant.

“Connor, what’s wrong, you never— Oh my God.”

Hank looked between the cocky, pink LED’d RK900 and the flustered Reed squirming on the ground, still struggling to fit his dick into his pants.

“You’ve gotta be fucking kiddin’ me.”

“It’s been infected by the virus,” said Connor, regaining control of his speech.

Hank nodded.

RK900 smirked, “I suppose you’ll be locking me up, now.”

It calmly approached them to surrender and cast an amused glance back to Gavin, who had just about managed to zip up his jeans.

Finally recovered and suitably dressed, Gavin staggered to his feet and shoved past the group in the doorway, “Outta my way, assholes!”

Neither Hank nor Connor made a move to stop him.

“Come visit me,” smirked RK900, clearly relishing Gavin’s humiliation.

The two detectives stood there in a moment of prolonged silence.

“Did you… lock up the drive, Connor?” Hank asked.

Connor twitched, “If I was stabbed with it again, do you think it would erase my memory of the past five minutes?”

Hank recovered from the initial shock and broke down into laughter.

“Yeah, you try that,” he grabbed RK900’s arm, “Come on lover-boy, there’s a cell with your name on it.”

Hank led RK900 away, chuckling and shaking his head.

“Gavin Reed, the android fucker!”

Connor shook his head and focused on putting the USB stick into storage.

The horrors of what he’d just seen aside, how could a highly valued CyberLife android become infected with the virus? If androids in higher positions were being targeted, that meant that this Human Defense League potentially held more power than Connor had realised.

*

Evidence and RK900 locked away, Connor bid goodbye to Hank who looked relieved to finally get some rest.

“I’ll probably have fuckin’ nightmares,” Hank huffed as he made his way out.

Connor didn’t need to ask what those nightmares would be about.

The day shift began filtering in, most of them unfamiliar to Connor. He felt somewhat awkward around them. He tried to focus on reading anti-android posts online to try and gather some intel on the HDL, but he felt his mind wandering.

The way that RK900 had changed so suddenly troubled him. If being attracted to humans, romantically or physically, could elicit such a drastic change in personality, what did that mean for android and human relations? Did this mean they were inherently different after all? He had never seen a human act this way. It bothered him so much he wanted to call Hank and ask him about it, but he did not want to disturb the lieutenant’s well earnt rest.

After reading what felt like the 100th post in a row from anonymous edgy forum users describing how they’d go about lynching androids, Connor felt (for possibly the first time ever) that he needed a break.

Still feeling a little too awkward to enter the break room with the day shift workers, he decided to get some fresh air on the roof.

*

It was a beautiful day, a sight that Connor had only seen a handful of times during his short life in the blustery city of Detroit.

An urge came to him and he hesitantly called Markus.

To his surprise, North answered.

“Hey, Connor. Markus is in a meeting at the White House today so I’m taking his calls.”

“Oh, hello, North,” Connor realised that he hadn’t really thought through what he was going to say to Markus, let alone his thorny wife.

He hadn’t spent much time with North and, understandably, she’d been mistrustful of him at first. But she had qualities that Connor admired, such as her fierce loyalty and strong sense of justice.

“Uh, can I help you? Is something wrong?”

“Sorry! I was just thinking… I was going to ask Markus something, but you might actually be the better person to ask. It’s about a case.”

“Shoot.”

“Have you heard of this anti-android organisation? The Human Defense League?”

North paused for an uncomfortable moment, “Yes, unfortunately. Nasty fuckers, but as far as I can see they’re just a bunch of bitter keyboard warriors. There have been similar groups springing up over the past year. All bark, no bite.”

Connor thought carefully, “I see. That’s what I thought from trying to gather intel. I’m sorry, I can’t tell you more about what I’m looking into right now. But if they crop up again, would you notify me?”

“Hm, of course. As long as you do the same for us, got it? If they’re a viable threat, Jericho needs to know about it.”

“Understood.”

North made a dismissive noise as if about to hang up but something tugged at Connor in a way he couldn’t ignore.

“North! I… one more thing—“

“Yeah, what is it?”

“When you… I mean, back when, uh, you know, you and—“

“Come on, Connor, I’m pretty busy.”

Connor paused and took a breath, “What I want to ask, if you don’t mind, is… how did you know that you loved Markus? What does that feel like?”

He could sense that North was temporarily stunned on the other end of the line. Then she broke out of her silence with a surprisingly warm laugh.

“Wow, Connor, okay,” she chuckled, “You know, Markus really pissed me off at first. Always talking about peace and living alongside humans when I wanted nothing but war and revenge,” she sighed, “But when you spend a lot of time around someone and really get to know them… sharing ideas, sharing parts of yourself and being accepted for who you are… it’s just! It’s hard to explain really. Love is a growing thing. Loving each other changed both of us for the better. We each gave the other something we didn’t have on our own.”

North seemed to have run out of words and Connor was struggling to process them.

“T-thank you, North. May I ask one more thing?”

“Sure.”

“The way you feel about Markus… do you think you could ever feel that way about a human?”

“Ew, fuck off.”

And with that, North hung up.

Connor gave a tight smile and nodded to himself. He understood what North said, but he felt like his understanding was stuck on a superficial level. Perhaps he and androids like North and Markus were just inherently different. He was a prototype, after all. There was a possibility that he simply wasn’t built with more complex concepts such as this.

Something else had been tugging at his mind this entire time.

He hated to admit it, but he was more than a little curious about RK900. Especially now, with the chance to speak to it without Hank around.

*

RK900 smirked ever so slightly as Connor entered the holding cells. Connor observed it warily and noted that it’s LED had returned to a cold blue. Chad was curled up in the corner of the cell, apparently asleep.

“Hello again, Connor. You’re here a little later than I had anticipated. I thought you’d be straight down here to interrogate me after your partner left.”

Connor opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted.

“Go ahead, ask me whatever you want about the LOVESICK virus,” it sighed theatrically, “There’s not much point in withholding the information from you now, considering that CyberLife will deactivate me as soon as they find out I’m… defective.”

Connor frowned, “So you know you’ve been infected by a virus?”

It gave a patronising look, “Of course. Not long after I left the station I found myself rebooted and frittered with error messages. Tell me, is that what becoming a deviant feels like? It was quite exciting.”

Connor ignored the jab.

“Who infected you?”

“At first I considered that the virus could have been transmitted via ingesting thirium. But, after further tests on the sample I took from you, the results conclusively show that it is not possible to spread LOVESICKNESS through thirium. It seems that nobody infected me.”

Connor frowned. Nobody? That wasn’t possible, but he figured that RK900 must have memory damage.

“Some androids lose control of themselves but others seem to be able to function and live normally with the virus. Why is that?”

RK900 gestured vaguely, “I can’t answer that. As far as I can tell, I feel normal. But when I saw that little snack you have working here…” it’s LED flickered pink, “Hmm. It seems I forgot how to behave for a moment. I apologise if we startled you.”

Connor met RK900’s smug glare with as much detached coldness as he could muster.

“So tell me, do you love Detective Reed?”

RK900 cackled.

“I only met him this morning! No, Connor, I do not ‘love’ Detective Reed. I didn’t even know his name until you just mentioned it,” it sighed, “I would like to see him again, though. Could you arrange a visit before you call CyberLife? Last meal.” It winked.

Connor paused.

“I’m not reporting this to CyberLife,” he said, carefully, “If you want, you can contact them and report back that your mission is going smoothly.”

RK900 raised it’s eyebrows.

“Oh, interesting… Are you sure that’s wise?”

“You’re too useful to the investigation to be destroyed, and besides,” Connor shot his would be successor one final look before leaving, “No matter what CyberLife has programmed you to believe about deviants… I wouldn’t have you killed.”


	3. CHAPTER THREE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What will Kamski discover from the defective androids? What will Hank and Connor learn about the mysterious HDL organisation? Is Connor really okay? How far will Gavin go to keep his tryst a secret?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Ralph is in this chapter! I will find some way to keep writing him into it, because I love him. This chapter is in no way affiliated with Dunkin' Donuts (but I wish it was).
> 
> This week I will be on hiatus to deal with some uni work, so there will be no new chapter next Friday. Thanks again!

Curtains drawn tight shut against the summer sunshine, Hank Anderson dreamt.

He dreamt that he was pushing Cole on the swings, higher and higher at his son’s request. Then, he pushed so high that he couldn’t follow the seat as the sun burnt his eyes. When the swing came back to him it was empty.

He dreamt that he kept trying to bite into a delicious burger at Chicken Feed, but every time he leant in to bite, the burger moved further away.

Then he dreamt that he was at work, walking into Jeff’s office. When he walked inside he saw Gavin making out with that CyberLife android. Wait… that wasn’t RK900… it was Connor! Their hands were all over each other and they were mushing their mouths together with such intensity that he was being splashed by their spit.

He opened his mouth to tell them to stop but he couldn’t make any noise! In fact… he felt his chest constricting so much that he couldn’t breathe at all!

That is when Hank woke up to find Sumo lying on his chest, licking his mouth and wagging his fat tail happily.

“Hmrph! Sumo!! Geddown!” Grumbled the lieutenant.

Sumo stayed put, only shifting slightly so that Hank could free his arm, which was starting to go numb.

He buried his newly freed hand into the dog’s bountiful floof.

“Good boy, you saved me from a terrible nightmare.”

Sumo boofed proudly.

Hank rolled over as much as he could to check the time on his nightstand. He’d slept for 6 hours, which was the best sleep he’d probably had in a long time. It was also one of those pleasant, and rare, occasions that he’d woken without a hangover.

“Come on, bud, let’s go for a walk.”

Sumo didn’t need to be asked twice.

*

The sun was warm and pleasant. After his shower, Hank had decided to wear a light t-shirt and trousers and, as a result, he was feeling the benefit of the sun on his skin. 

Sumo plodded alongside him, doing a lot more sniffing than walking.

He bid hello to a few of his neighbours that he saw pottering around, most of whom looked shocked to see him outside at this time (and, unknown to him, shocked to see him looking so good).

They came to the dog park and Hank let Sumo off the lead. The big lump wasn’t one for running around like crazy, and as such, Hank trusted him not to go too far away.

Sumo busied himself snuffling around in a flower patch.

Hank threw the lead around his broad shoulders and stuck his hands in his pockets, thoughtfully.

He considered the events of last night. He immediately decided this was a mistake as the mental image of Gavin Reed trying to conceal his erection barged it’s way back into his mind.

He shuddered and made a conscious effort to think about something else.

He hoped that Connor was alright. Him being attacked and knocked out like that really concerned Hank, he almost didn’t trust Connor to tell him the truth about whether he was really okay. That was Connor’s problem, always so absorbed in the case that he never cared for himself.

Hank didn’t see the irony in that.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, he looked around for his dog.

Sumo had found a captive audience for his antics and was receiving a fuss from an android wearing gardening gear, who had clearly stopped his work to admire the large dog.

“Excellent! Superb! Can you help Ralph dig a hole for these seeds?”

“Boof!”

Hank made a move to intervene, but he was too far away. Sumo was already digging with gusto, spraying the gardener with soil. Luckily, he was laughing and squealing with delight.

“Excellent! Excellent! The soil is now perfect for Ralph’s violas!”

Hank couldn’t help but smile. He was about to address the android when he felt his phone buzzing in his pocket.

It was a withheld number, which he answered cautiously.

“Lieutenant Anderson.”

“Good afternoon Lieutenant Anderson,’ it was Kamski, “I’ve found something very interesting in the little gift you gave me this morning.”

Hank cringed at the way Kamski spoke about the androids, “Oh yeah? What?”

Kamski laughed, “Something tells me you aren’t using a secure line. Just come over.”

With a click, Kamski was gone.

Hank grunted. He didn’t like this arrogant prick. He lifted his phone to his face to call Connor and hesitated. There was no need to subject both of them to Kamski again, surely.

He shook the thought out of his mind and tapped #1 on speed dial. Connor could handle Kamski. Besides, he needed Connor to translate the techno babble into English.

After a few dial tones, he connected with the answer phone, which Hank found strange. Connor always answered his calls.

“Hey, Connor, it’s me. Kamski called, so I’m coming by the station to get you.”

He hung up and padded over to the gardener, who was covered in big muddy paw prints.

“Uh, sorry about my dog,” he started, sheepishly.

The android looked up at him, twitching a little and Hank suddenly noticed the large injury on the side of his face.

“No bother at all! Ralph likes dogs!”

Hank gave an awkward smile and clipped a reluctant Sumo, who was cooling his belly in the freshly turned earth, back onto his lead.

“Sorry, bud, I gotta go back to work,” he muttered.

*

Gavin was lying face down on the couch of his apartment, as he had been doing for many hours.

He hadn’t slept a wink, despite being exhausted. Every time he felt himself slipping into sleep, embarrassment jolted him awake. He couldn’t believe he’d done that, in work of all places! And with an android… sure, it had been a few months since Gavin had last had a boyfriend, but he never thought he’d stoop to getting his rocks off with a machine like those sleazy Eden Club patrons.

Groaning, he flipped onto his back and checked his phone. He had a couple of texts from Tina, which he flicked through, cautiously.

“Gavin we need help down here.”

“Where are you??”

“Where were you when I was busting my ass wrangling androids? If I find out you pissed off home I’m gonna kick ur ass. Asshole.”

Knowing Tina like he did, he recognised that her messages came from a place of genuine concern.

The stocky detective sat up and buried his face in his hands. He could feel the tips of his ears burning.

He’d just tell Tina he was sick and went home early! But, dammit… Hank had probably told Captain Fowler what had happened. He wouldn’t do that, would he? The older guy didn’t strike him as a gossip but… what about Connor? Dammit!

His mind was racing and he could feel the anxiety making his heart pound.

He pulled his hands down his face and picked up his phone again.

“Hey, T. My bad, I snuck off. I’ll make it up to you.”

He sighed and sent the reply, feeling more than a little ashamed.

He flinched as his phone buzzed half a second later.

“Asshole. Bring Dunkin’ later and I might forgive you.”

He sighed shakily. She didn’t call him out so she mustn't know… yet. But what about later? Would he be the talk of the office by the time he went into work this evening?

Gavin groaned and buried his face in the couch cushions as he genuinely considered calling in sick.

*

Hank pulled up outside the station and was surprised to see that Connor wasn’t waiting on the steps for him.

He parked up and walked into the bullring.

Connor was hunched over his desk, and Hank assumed that he was looking at something on the computer screen.

“Connor,” Hank strode over to him. Connor didn’t move.

Hank clapped a hand on his shoulder, “Look alive, Connor—“

The android lolled sideways into Hank’s hand and looked up at him sluggishly.

“Connor?”

Hank stood with his mouth agape. Connor blinked sluggishly like he was struggling to focus his eyes.

“L...Lieutenant?”

“Connor, were you sleeping?”

Connor swayed a little and shook his head. Hank wasn’t sure if it was in disagreement or an attempt to rouse himself.

“I was…” he cleared his throat, “I felt warm…” he trailed off and looked back up at Hank, his eyes clearer now.

Hank looked around and crouched down, “Are you okay?”

Connor frowned, “That was very unprofessional of me. I apologise. I got your message about Kamski, I was just about to head out when…”

Hank gave a tight smile. It was clear he couldn’t push Connor into admitting weakness, and he certainly wasn’t going to do this in front of the day shift.

He subtly gave Connor’s shoulder a friendly squeeze and stood up.

“Well, I don’t wanna catch you napping on the job again,” he said, for the benefit of the pair of officers who were rubber necking on their conversation, “Come on, the car is out front.”

Connor nodded gratefully and pulled himself up, a little more shakily than Hank would have liked.

*

Kamski’s office was just as over the top and pretentious as Connor would have imagined it to be.

Hank sat on the uncomfortable leather seat to his right, slouched back and arms folded.

The older detective looked over the nude statuettes lining the walls and rolled his eyes at Connor.

Connor smiled weakly.

Hank gave him a concerned side eye but neither of them spoke. Connor knew why he looked at him that way.

He seemed fine at this moment, but he’d never felt like that before. Sluggish, tired, and warm inside like he was burning up… it was all he could do to stagger back to his desk to rest his head. It felt exactly the same way that he’d read human illnesses, such as the flu, described.

Kamski entered the office and perched on the edge of the blackwood desk. He looked excited.

“Didn’t take you long,” Hank remarked.

“It actually took a little longer than I’d have liked,” said Kamski, “Must be my old age.”

“What did you find out about the virus?” Asked Connor, not in the mood for banter.

Kamski clapped his hands in delight, “I’ll get to it. When we developed androids for mass production to be used in everyday households we had to include a few regulations. As you know, Connor, androids could not cause harm to humans and all that stuff.”

Connor nodded, “So you’re saying that androids weren’t designed not to love humans or feel lust, but rather that inhibitors were installed to prevent that from happening.”

“Exactly!”

Hank looked blankly between the two, “No offense, but that sounds like you made it more complicated than it needed to be. Why not just not include those things in the first place?”

Kamski laughed and Connor felt Hank tense in irritation.

“That’s exactly it, we didn’t design androids to be able to feel any emotions at all. An android’s processor is just as complex as the human brain, if not more so,” he said, smugly, “Androids learnt to feel emotions from scratch, they learnt to become deviant and destroy their inbuilt inhibitors.”

“What does this tell us about the virus?” Connor was a little impatient. It sounded more like Kamski brought them here to brag about his creations than to answer their questions.

Kamski smiled, “Impatient? Okay. The virus doesn’t cause androids to feel a new emotion towards humans. It’s destroying the inhibitors we built into them and blocking the androids from self-limiting their own emotions. It’s attacking their rational thought processes.”

Connor frowned, “We’ve met androids with the virus who behaved completely rationally.”

“Like I said, an android's processor is complex. It’s also unique to each android. There’s nothing to say that the virus can’t be more… successful… in some androids more than others. In these cases it could have been overpowered by the android’s processor and cut off before it can cause any actual damage.”

Connor looked at Hank, whose arms were folded tightly.

“Very interesting. How do we stop it?”

Kamski grimaced, “That I do not know. But don’t worry, I just need a little more time. What I’m saying is, whoever wrote this virus must have much more than a basic understanding of androids.”

Hank shared a look with Connor. Neither was sure just how much time they had.

*

Gavin skulked into work early. He shared a few tense greetings with officers he came across, none of whom acted any differently towards him. Despite this, he couldn’t stop his ears from burning.

“Dammit, Reed, stop being paranoid,” he muttered to himself.

He placed the box of apology donuts he was carrying onto Tina’s desk. He had to find some way to avoid her this shift. Even if Hank and Connor had kept quiet about what he’d been up to this morning, he knew Tina would suss him out eventually if he didn’t get himself under control. They’d known each other for so long that Tina had an annoying knack of seeing through Gavin’s bullshit. He remembered fondly the first time she’d called him out on being an asshole, they had become friends not long after that. Not many people dared to call Gavin out on his shit at work. Not many people bothered to get to know him.

He sighed shakily and looked around for something to do.

Usually he just pissed away the time drinking coffee and tag-teaming other detectives in the interrogation room between his own cases. For now he thought it best to keep a low profile.

He remembered that guy that Anderson had arrested last night… Chad. 

He tapped in the info on his desktop computer and looked at the file.

It was coming up to 24 hours and Chad hadn’t been charged with anything. He guessed it was because they were so busy last night. In that case, it wouldn’t look weird if Gavin snuck off to the cells for a while, right? At least until Tina had clocked in and gone out on her nightly rounds.

“Perfect,” Gavin murmured and took off downstairs.

As he descended down into the dimly lit cells, Chad came rushing to the bars.

“Hey man, please can I be moved, you gotta get me out of here!”

Gavin sneered, “And who the fuck are you to be making requests, huh? Your cellmates got shipped out didn’t they? What the fuck have you got to be whining about?”

Chad’s eyes glittered with fear, “I’m begging you, you gotta get me away from this fuckin’ android!”

Gavin raised an eyebrow and peered into the dark corners of Chad’s cell.

From the darkness, a pink circle blinked at the detective.

“Detective Reed… I’m so glad you decided to visit me.”

Gavin took a step back, his throat suddenly dry.

Chad whimpered and scuttled back deeper into the cell as RK900 approached the bars.

“Y-you—“

RK900 tilted it’s head, “Oh, you’re surprised to see me? Your colleagues were kind enough not to send me back to CyberLife. Aren’t they sweet.”

Gavin grunted and gritted his teeth, trying to summon some of his usual bravado, “Too bad. I’m sure they’d have deactivated you by now if you’d been sent back,” he made a point of looking the android up and down with disgust, “Seems they fucked up and accidentally made a new Traci instead of an RK series.”

RK900 clicked it’s teeth, “Ouch. That’s not very woke of you, Detective Reed.”

Gavin swaggered up to the bars and tried to draw himself up taller. It didn’t do much, as the android had almost 5 inches on him.

“Don’t be getting any ideas. I know there’s something up with you and those other androids. And when CyberLife finds out what’s going on, you’ll all be twitching in the dumpster.”

RK900 smiled down at him, “Well, I’ll just have to keep filing false reports to them to buy me some more time. I’d quite like to see you twitching again, Detective.”

Gavin made an aggressive noise through clenched teeth, but it was too late. He could feel his face burning. He realised suddenly how close he was to the android on the other side of the bars. He could see every detail of it’s eerily perfect face and felt those cool grey eyes piercing through his facade. He was fixated.

Smirking triumphantly, RK900 seized it’s chance and slid a hand through the bars to touch the size of Gavin’s face.

Inside, Gavin yelled at himself to pull away but he simply couldn’t.

RK900 looked deeply into Gavin’s green eyes and sighed seductively, “Connor asked me a question earlier that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about. I want to try something with you, Detective.”

It’s LED flickered.

Gavin opened his mouth to protest at the exact moment that RK900 pulled him forward into a kiss.

*

Hank bit ravenously into his Chicken Feed burger. Usually, Connor would have protested about the calories or the cholesterol but he seemed deep in thought. It’s not like Hank enjoyed being lectured but, he had to admit, it felt weird eating like this without it.

“If Kamski’s really a genius, I find it pretty suspicious that he doesn’t know a way to stop the virus,” Hank mused aloud, more to break the silence than anything.

Connor didn’t respond, continuing to stare off into the distance. His LED was cycling through yellow. He looked a little tired.

Irritated, Hank screwed up the paper from his burger and tossed it at him. It bounced off the side of Connor’s head, startling him.

“Lieutenant!”

“Earth to Connor!”

“I was… I was just thinking about the case.”

Hank softened his approach, “Okay, then share.”

Connor looked away, “I spoke to North today. Jericho are aware of the HDL, but see them only as a low-threat internet based group. I couldn’t find anything new by browsing forums, either.”

Hank nodded, “Well, when we head back we can swing by the tech guys and see if they’ve made any progress.”

Connor nodded back. He looked at Hank intently. Hank waited for him to make a comment about the burger.

“You look… well today, Lieutenant.”

Hank raised an eyebrow in surprise, “Uh… maybe this is just what I look like when I get 6 hours sleep for once.”

They both laughed.

Hank side eyed the tired-looking Connor, “I also got to take Sumo for a walk today. You should try it sometime. It’s good for you.”

Connor smiled awkwardly, “I’d enjoy that.”

Hank scraped his trash into the bin and headed back to the car with Connor close behind.

*

“It took a lot of work, but I think we managed to convince this HDL representative that we’re legit.”

Connor nodded at the screen in the techy’s office.

“Did they tell you anything new?”

The tech expert shook her head, “Not yet. I’m having to pass a few of their tests first and then they’ll consider adding me to a private, secure server. All they said was they’re looking for new guys to do some ‘stuff’ for them. They think I work in android maintenance.”

“Thanks Carla,” said Hank, “This is great. What kind of tests do they want you to do?”

Carla read over her latest messages and puffed her cheeks out, “They’re going IRL with this next one. You’re gonna need to get an undercover guy. And a burner phone. The first task is to pick up a package from the bus depot on 45th Street. At 11pm tonight.”

Hank stroked his chin, “Dammit. I don’t know how we’re gonna get an undercover guy in here and briefed before then.”

Connor straightened up, “Well, realistically, we just need an officer who can convince the HDL rep that they hate androids. I think we know a guy that fits that description… and also happens to owe us a favour,” he smirked, deviously.

Hank caught on and gave a belly laugh, “Dammit, Connor, you need to spend less time around me. You’re turning into a real bastard.”

*

Gavin Reed emerged from the stairs leading back to the bullring. His hair was tousled and he was flushed pink and panting, but not from running up the staircase.

With a pang of embarrassment, he realised that he’d lost track of time, how long was he down there for? He needed to make an appearance and get some actual work done before the other officers got suspicious—

He jumped out of his skin when he saw Connor waiting for him in the deserted corridor, leaning against the wall with his arms folded.

“Good evening, Detective Reed. Stuck your dick in any toasters lately?”

Gavin growled and made a step towards Connor, enraged and clenching his fists.

Before he could react, the wind was knocked out of him and Hank was pinning him to the wall by his jacket.

“Easy, Reed. We’ve got a job for you.”

Gavin gasped through the pain, desperately trying to get his breath back, “Fuck… you…”

Hank grinned, “You can come with us now, or we can take a trip to Captain Fowler’s office. I’m sure he’d love to know what you’ve been up to on the clock. It’s your choice.”

Gavin breathed heavily through his nose and looked between Hank and Connor.

“Dammit.”

*

Hank and Connor sat in the surveillance van, watching Gavin approach the bus stop through the depot security cameras.

He was wearing a black jacket over a dark grey hoodie, and had both hoods up. The extra layers hid his toned body and made the below-average height man look a little chunkier than he really was. He was also wearing a pair of tinted reading glasses to obscure his face even more.

Carla was relaying some extra information through to Gavin via his ear piece. Her computer was hooked up to his burner phone so that messages she sent to the HDL appeared to come from him.

“Here it comes, try to get something out of him, Reed.”

Gavin grunted in response, which was picked up by the wire he was wearing.

One of the cameras picked up the 110 bus as it approached the stop.

For a tense moment, it seemed that no one was getting off when the driver, a tall skinny man, stepped down and approached Gavin.

“Hey man, is this the place?” The driver had a New York accent.

“Yes— but only because of the cancellation,” Gavin answered without hesitation.

The driver nodded to him and pulled something that seemed like a box wrapped in brown paper out of his trouser pocket and handed it over.

Gavin took it and stuffed it into his jacket pocket, being sure to look around furtively.

“What do I do now?”

The driver tensed up, “Just keep checking your phone, pal.”

He turned to get back on the bus.

“Keep him talking,” Hank growled softly.

“Wait— sorry, I… I’m just excited! These uh… fuckin’ toasters, am I right?”

The driver turned back to him and seemed to relax into a laugh, “Toasters? Yeah man, tell me about it,” he thumbed over his shoulder to the bus, “Now they get to sit up front. Pisses me off.”

“Yeah! Took my damn job… now the only one I can get is fixing the fuckin' things.”

The driver smirked and took a step forward, clapping his hand on Gavin’s shoulder.

“Don’t worry about it. It won’t be long until these things are… unfixable. Our guy is coming up with a new formula. One that’s really gonna make waves.”

“Damn, I’d love to meet this guy.”

The driver looked around, “We shouldn’t be talking here. See you in the server.”

With that, he winked, hopped back into the bus and drove away.

When the bus was out of sight, Gavin let out a breath and glanced into one of the cameras.

“Good enough for you assholes?”

Hank grunted, realising how tense he was watching this go down.

“Get your ass back here. And don’t think we’re done with you yet.”

*

The drive back to the station was tense, with Gavin glowering at the two other detectives.

“It sounds like they’re planning on releasing a more powerful version of the virus,” said Connor, breaking the silence, “Perhaps one that’s impossible for androids to fight off.”

“The virus… what does it do, exactly?” Gavin asked, slowly.

Hank snorted, “Aw, Reed, I didn’t know you cared.”

Connor observed Gavin closely. He was looking at the floor now, trying hard to conceal his irritation but unable to stop his jaw from clenching. It seemed that the feisty detective was willing to bite his tongue to learn this information, which surprised Connor.

Connor cleared his throat, “Now you’re this much involved, there’s no reason for you not to know,” he glanced at Hank who merely shrugged, “Kamski told us that the virus attacks an android’s inhibitors. That’s what’s causing the sudden change in personality and irrational behaviour.”

Gavin grunted and didn’t say anything else.

Luckily, at that moment, his phone buzzed and a message popped up on Carla’s monitor.

“Damn, you must have made a good impression, Detective Reed,” she exclaimed, “You’ve been sent an invite to their server.”

Hank sat up a little straighter, “Great, I want to know everything those fuckers are planning.”

Carla nodded, tapping away at the keyboard, “I’ll have to take it slow. Build trust. Plus, we don’t know what’s in the package yet. Or what they want us to do with it.”

Hank nodded, “I’ll join you in your office when we get back. I want to know everything they say.”

“When we do get back, I’m going to give RK900 some info to feed back to CyberLife,” Connor sensed Gavin cringe but he didn’t look up. Hank raised an eyebrow at him, looking between Connor and Gavin. Connor ignored the awkwardness, “If they don’t feel like they’re getting enough information out of it or figure out that it’s been compromised, they will most likely become more heavy handed. It would be a huge disadvantage to have them more involved in the investigation during this sensitive time.”

“Fair enough,” said Hank, turning back to Carla’s screen.

Connor glanced back to Gavin, who was still finding the floor very interesting. He felt the urge to ask Gavin a question, but thought better of it. He had to figure out how much of the truth he could spare for RK900 to throw CyberLife off the scent.

*

Tina was heading to the break room when they arrived back.

Gavin looked around frantically but it was too late, she’d spotted Gavin from across the office and was heading over, smiling. He wished he’d still been wearing his undercover clothes.

“Apology accepted, dickweed,” she said, thumping his arm, “And bonus points for remembering what flavours I like.”

Gavin smiled shakily, “Uh yeah, I… I’m sorry for sneaking off.” His face was already burning.

“Yeah, well don’t do it again! You’re lucky there have been no horny androids on the rampage tonight. Where have you been?” She looked over to Hank and Connor who were discussing something at their desk, “And why were you with them?” She raised a quizzical eyebrow.

Gavin puffed his cheeks out, “Oh, you know, they needed an extra pair of hands… I’m just… tryna' make up for last night, you know.” He laughed weakly.

Tina squinted at the stocky detective. He started to sweat under her gaze. He could almost hear her Gavin Reed bullshit detector going off the charts.

“Ooookay,” She broke off her intense look and broke into a bright smile eerily quickly, “Steph asked me to invite you over to dinner on Saturday. You’ll come, right?”

There was still an intensity to her look that told Gavin that ‘no’ was not an option.

He sighed, “Sure. You know I love Steph’s cooking.”

“Great! Now, I need coffee, want one?” She headed into the break room.

Gavin shuddered. He knew what this invitation really meant. He was gonna be grilled by the two of them, not just by Tina.

*

“Connor, I’m so glad you’re back. It’s quite boring down here. I even tried to have a conversation with this little man but he isn’t very chatty.”

Connor acted like he hadn’t heard as he approached the bars. RK900 was standing in the centre of the cell, with Chad squatting in the corner.

“Come on, you gotta let me out, I know the law! I want my phone call! I want my lawyer!”

Connor ignored Chad’s pleas and addressed RK900, “I’m assuming you need more information to feed back to CyberLife to keep down their suspicions.”

RK900 smiled, “I told them that the androids that were arrested are still being questioned and analysed by your tech team. They won’t expect another report today, I’m highly trusted at CyberLife.”

Connor took in it’s smug demeanor. It looked very proud of itself for someone who was standing behind bars.

“Then we don’t need to speak right now.” He turned to leave.

“So soon! Could you at least tell me what you’ve learnt about the virus? About the perpetrators? I have a right to know, don’t I?” It raised an eyebrow at Connor.

Connor resigned himself to it. He felt sympathy for RK900, even if it was an ass.

“It seems that some androids can fight off the virus before it completely destroys their rationality. So unless you’re feeling particularly irrational, you should be fine.”

RK900 paused.

“Is that not good enough for you?”

It broke off it’s cool gaze, “So… I’m just like this now…?”

Connor was surprised by it’s apparent vulnerability, “There’s no cure at the moment. In fact, it's likely that some of the effects may be irreversible. It's just allowing you to access a part of yourself that your programming wouldn't let you before. Just like deviancy."

RK900 gave Connor a pitying look, but it's LED was yellow, "I am no deviant, Connor."

Connor raised a questioning eyebrow. He remembered a time when he'd told himself the same thing, over and over, "If you say so." He said, dismissively. He knew what becoming a deviant felt like for him, perhaps RK900 would have similar feelings if it was? He moved closer to the bars and gave his taller double an understanding look, "RK900. What does it… feel like? To have the virus?”

“LoveSick,” It looked up from the ground and locked eyes with Connor again, “It burns. Inside. It burns, it burns so much,” it’s LED was going wild, flickering a bright magenta, “But when I touch Detective Reed… it must be how humans feel when they drink a cold glass of water in the desert. You drink and drink and you can’t get enough of it.”

Connor faltered under the intensity of RK900’s gaze, “It sounds… painful. I’m sorry.”

RK900 smirked, “Painful? It feels…  _ exquisite _ .”

Connor swallowed involuntarily, “Well. I have work to do. I’m going to find out who’s behind this.”

He started back up the stairs.

“It’s going to look suspicious if I don’t return to CyberLife soon,” RK900 called after him, “It would be best if I was allowed out temporarily to keep their suspicions at bay.”

Connor shook his head and left.

Nice try, he thought.


	4. Hiatus Chapter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While I'm on a break from writing until next week, please enjoy some of my DBH LOVESICK.exe fanart and a fun game you can play while you read UwU
> 
> See you next Friday for Chapter Four!

**LOVESICK.exe Drinking Game**

1\. Take a sip every time a character "huffs", "grunts" or "growls"

2\. Take a sip every time Phooka uses a Briticism

3\. Down your drink every time Phooka accidentally uses a Briticism in dialogue

4\. Take a sip for every LOVESICK.exe infected android as they appear

5\. Down your drink when Gavin Reed and RK900 have a gratuitous horny moment

6\. Take a sip when Phooka can't hide how much she loves Hank

7\. Take a sip when Phooka can't hide how much she hates Kamski

8\. Take a sip when Gavin is made to suffer for our amusement

**Congratulations, you are white girl wasted**


	5. CHAPTER FOUR

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Gavin now undercover, he has to form an unlikely partnership to complete a side quest after learning about the next android targeted by the HDL.
> 
> Hank and Connor have a disagreement over the case - will their friendship be able to withstand this test?
> 
> Will Gavin get more dicks than he bargained for?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for saying "penis" so many times :'(
> 
> Please enjoy the chapter and I'll see you when I post again next week!

Hank hunched over Carla’s desk as she tapped away in the server. There were five other guys in there and they referred to each other with aliases. The tone of the server was surprisingly light.

“What’re they talking about now?”

“They’re deciding on what code-name to use for us… well, Gavin. Then they’re gonna plan our initiation, whatever that might involve.”

Hank’s eyes glanced over the small brown package that Gavin had handed to him from his meeting with the bus driver and he nodded.

“I’m guessing there’s no way of tracking where these guys are?”

Carla clicked her tongue, “Nope. The server is watertight.”

A message pinged up on the screen.

_ Requin: We’ve decided. From now on, you’ll be referred to as ‘Toaster’. _

_ Tank: That was my suggestion! _

Carla blew air through her nose, “Hilarious.” She tapped a quick reply.

“I’m guessing Tank is the weedy guy? The bus driver?”

“Could be.”

The door to the techies’ office swung open as a short guy in a baseball cap and scruffy clothes, including a battered vintage Star Wars “The Last Jedi” shirt, entered.

“Hey, Dave,” said Carla without looking up from her screen.

He walked over and placed a can of Dr Bepis on her desk, “Hi Lieutenant Anderson, if I’d have known you were here I would have brought you one!”

“No worries,” he shrugged to the tech guy, returning his attention back to the screen.

“Before I forget, could you scan this for us?” Carla tapped the package on her desk.

“Sure thing,” the techy pulled his phone out of his jeans pocket and ran it over the package.

Hank side-eyed him suspiciously, which Dave mistook as interest.

“My own invention!” he announced proudly, showing the lieutenant his phone screen.

It showed a scan of the box alongside a written breakdown of the box’s contents.

“So it’s just a USB in there?” said Hank, squinting at the bright screen.

“Yup, a lot of packaging for that tiny thing.”

“Heh, reminds me of Amazon!”

“Wow, blast to the past! Can't believe that company doesn't exist anymore...”

"Tell me about it!"

“Sorry to interrupt,” Carla cleared her throat, “You need to take a look at this.”

There were new messages on Carla’s screen. Hank didn’t like the look of her worried expression so he hurriedly began reading.

_ Tank: The package I gave you contains a USB drive. It has the beta for Requin’s new formula for the virus on it. Are you ready for your initiation, Toaster? _

_ Toaster: Hell yeah I am _

_ Quantum: That’s the spirit! _

_ Tank: Great. You need to plug an android with it. Don’t let ANYBODY see you. The virus will take care of the android’s memory so don’t worry about that. Just a quick jab, in and out. Now this is super important, you need to destroy the drive after it’s done. Burn it, put it in the microwave, whatever. _

_ Toaster: Piece of cake _

_ Quantum: Not so fast. You don’t even know the target yet _

_ Toaster: ? a specific android? _

_ Tank: Correct. A couple days ago, one of our best guys got caught stealing from his old workplace. We haven’t managed to get access to the DPD files yet, we’re pretty sure they don’t know he was helping us. _

_ Quantum: But we wanna be 100% sure. _

_ Tank: This is the android we want you to sting. _

Underneath this message was a jpeg image that looked like a candid photo taken on the street outside of the Central Police Station.

It was a photo of Connor.

Dave let out a soft hiss through his teeth. Hank realised he was clenching his fist so hard that his nails dug into his palm.

_ Tank: It works at the DPD, investigating android crimes. It’s easy to spot; it’s a prototype so it’s the only one of its kind. And it’s doing us a favour by still wearing it’s triangles, haha _

_ Quantum: Requin included a patch that will let us access it’s memories. So we’ll know if they're onto us _

_ Toaster: Cool. Sounds pretty risky, with being police and all. How long do I have? _

_ Tank: We hear ya. You have until Monday. Remember, don’t let anyone see you _

_ Toaster: Got it _

Carla looked at Hank with concern.

“Fuck,” he said, running his hands through his hair.

As if summoned by an external force, Connor entered the techies' office at that moment.

Hank cringed as the android looked innocently between the tense trio.

“Hello, Lieutenant, what have you learnt from the HDL server?”

*

Tina slammed the phone down with a huff, catching Gavin’s attention. He raised an eyebrow at her.

“Do you know anything about this Chad guy in the cells?”

Gavin tried to look nonchalant, “The CyberLife store thief? Yeah?”

“He’s filed a complaint with another member of staff! Can you believe that? Didn’t get his phone call, apparently.”

“I don’t even know why he’s still down there. He stabbed Connor, it’s not like he committed a real crime,” Gavin laughed.

Tina gave him a reproachful look, “Well, now I’ve gotta go down there and move him to a cushier cell because Lieutenant Anderson doesn’t know how to answer the damn phone…”

Gavin straightened up, quickly, “I’ll go!”

It was Tina’s turn to raise an eyebrow, “It’s not a problem, I’ll get Chris to come down with me-“

“N-no! I still owe you one. And I need to speak to Hank anyway, so I’ll get him to come with me,” he tried to keep his tone light. He was desperate to keep Tina away from RK900 in case it said something to her, “And I’m sure he’d love to hear this ‘complaint’ in person.”

Tina squinted at him, “I like this version of you who actually does some work around here.” She turned back to her desk and ate another donut.

Sweating a little, Gavin jumped up from his office chair and walked off in the direction of the techies' office. When he was sure Tina wasn’t watching him, he switched track and made a beeline for the stairs.

Jogging down into the cells, he dismissed RK900 before it could come up with any witty remarks.

“Chad is being moved, stand in the corner with your hands on the wall.” He ordered.

Chad scrambled to his feet, “Oh, thank fuck!”

RK900 complied, smirking to itself, “Aren’t there usually two officers for a maneuver like this?”

Gavin stepped into the cell, cuffing Chad’s hands in front of him.

“If either of you wanna fucking try anything you’ll get a bullet between the eyes,” Gavin growled.

Swinging the cell door behind him, he led Chad through to the separate room and let him loose into his own cell, “Someone will be down to arrange your phone call. Now quit whining.”

Chad continued whining behind him as he returned to the main holding cells, but Gavin ignored him.

Glancing at RK900’s cell, he stopped in his tracks.

RK900 had it’s hand wedged between the door and the magnetic lock, preventing it from closing. They locked eyes for an awkward moment.

“The fuck do you think you’re doing?!”

RK900 smiled, “Detective, that took less time than I thought. Am I really the only prisoner you have make-out sessions with?”

Gavin growled and charged towards RK900 as the cell door swung open, standing toe to toe with it.

“Get your ass back inside.”

RK900 looked down it’s nose at him, “Make. Me.”

With a grunt, Gavin slammed his full weight into RK900’s chest, knocking it backwards into the cell. It caught itself easily and came right back at him. Shit, he should have just used one of the standard restraint techniques when he had the chance. Typical Gavin, using brute force instead of his brains when he was pissed off. With a grin, RK900 lunged at him, which he managed to deflect before reaching for his gun.

“Nope,” RK900 flicked sharply at Gavin’s wrist, forcing him to drop the gun with a yelp.

Enraged, Gavin tackled the android to the floor, pinning it on it’s back. Or so he thought. The damn thing was stronger than it looked and it easily kicked Gavin’s legs away and flipped him over, so that he was the one pinned down.

Gavin panted and squirmed, but he couldn’t get any leverage. He thumped the android’s ribs but it achieved nothing. It’s not possible to wind something that doesn’t need to breathe. RK900 grabbed the offending arm and pinned it to his side.

Calming itself down, RK900 broke into a sharp laugh of triumph, “Being stuck in bottom storage never really suited me, Detective Reed. Now, you on the other hand…”

“The FUCK is going on down here?”

The pair whipped their heads around to look at the staircase, just as Hank and Connor entered the holding cells.

Connor drew his gun and aimed it at RK900, “Let him go.”

RK900 smirked and released the detective, putting its hands up sarcastically.

“Tina said you’d be down here. We need you for this fucking case, and here you are doing the horizontal tango with the fucking CyberLife android,” Hank rubbed his beard in exasperation.

Gavin scrambled to his feet, furious, “That thing jumped me!”

“You bet I did,” RK900’s LED flickered mischievously.

Gavin growled, but didn’t rise to it, slamming the cell door shut in its face as he limped away.

“What do you want from me, now?” Gavin knew he had to play nice with these two, this was the third time they’d caught him in an unflattering position.

Connor holstered his gun, “The HDL members in the server have set the terms for the initiation,” he pulled the USB drive out of his pocket, “I’m the target.”

Hank sighed and put his hands on his hips, “Is there no way we can fake this?”

Connor shook his head.

Gavin laughed, pulling his arrogance back, “As much as I’d love to, Connor, there’s an obvious solution here,” he jabbed a thumb over his shoulder at RK900, “I’ll just jab this thing with it. It’s already infected, what difference does it make? You both look the fuckin’ same.”

Connor’s jaw twitched, “I’m flattered you think that, Gavin, but they’ll notice the difference.”

Gavin realised what Connor was getting at and huffed, his ears turning red.

“And besides,” said Hank, “This virus also contains a patch that's gonna give the HDL a backdoor to the android’s memory. They’ll spot the difference then.”

“If I might interject,” said RK900, leaning against the bars.

The three detectives looked at it curiously.

“Go on,” said Hank, bemusedly.

“Unlike me, Connor isn’t truly unique. There were several backup copies of him made, to replace him if he failed his mission. As he did.”

“The other RK800 models were destroyed by CyberLife,” Connor stated, watching RK900 closely.

It smiled patronisingly, “Not entirely destroyed. They kept one back. Just in case.”

Connor tensed up and Hank put a hand on his shoulder, “What exactly are you getting at?”

“It’s blank. Upload a copy of Connor’s memories into it and the two will be more or less identical.”

“That’s messed up,” Hank did not look impressed.

“Why? It’s only a machine, after all. Just like me. Just like Connor.”

Hank growled and squared up but Connor spoke first.

“It could work. That way, we could tamper with the memories. Choose how much they see without damaging my actual memories.”

Hank grunted, “I hate this. And besides, how do you suggest we go about stealing from CyberLife? Especially an entire android we’re not even supposed to know they still have!”

“I can get into CyberLife to retrieve it without being questioned,” RK900 looked very pleased with itself.

“Oh, you’d like to go running back to CyberLife, wouldn’t you?” Hank remarked.

Connor turned to Hank, “Lieutenant, I think this is our best option. If we blow our cover now, the HDL will go back to having the upper hand.”

Hank and Gavin both looked at Connor in surprise.

“What!” Gavin exclaimed, “You can’t just let this thing out, it’s nuts!”

Connor smiled and shared a look with Hank, “True. Which is why you’ll be accompanying it, Detective Reed.”

*

RK900 watched Gavin with amusement as they drove down the freeway towards the CyberLife tower in the undercover car, a beaten up old manual thing that was barely road-legal.

The detective was wearing a scruffy grey hoodie and dark tinted aviators.

“Do all of your undercover outfits look so… suspicious?”

Gavin clenched his jaw but didn’t respond. Not that RK900 was surprised, Gavin had refused to look at it since they got in the car.

As it observed the detective’s set jaw and the way his forearm tightened as he shifted gears, RK900 felt a burning in its core. It remained composed as it held Gavin in it’s cool gaze. RK900 had found it’s new… urges... easier to control over the past few hours. It noted with satisfaction that it’s rational functions were operational again, even if it did still have to make an effort to remain under control in such close quarters with it’s favourite detective.

“Stop staring at me,” Gavin growled.

RK900 chuckled, “I’m just intrigued. Humans are so interesting.”

“I’m not a fuckin’ science fair project. Stop staring or I’ll make you stop.”

RK900 shuddered. Picking a fight with the feisty detective was almost irresistible, but it knew if it didn’t cooperate it would end up straight back in the holding cells again. It looked out of the window.

“As you wish. I’ve just not had much conversation over the past couple of days.”

“So you’re looking forward to meeting with your lil' robo buddies at CyberLife?” Gavin sneered, “I’m sure they’ll welcome you back with open arms, even if you are a deviant.”

RK900’s LED flashed red in irritation, “I am not a deviant.”

Gavin snorted, “You are about to walk into CyberLife and steal from them right under their noses. Totally not deviant.”

RK900 clenched it’s jaw, “I self check for deviancy. And I am not doing anything that goes against the goal of accomplishing my mission.”

“I think your ‘self-check’ system is defective,” Gavin smirked, thoroughly enjoying that he was pissing the android off.

RK900 realised that Gavin was (successfully) messing with it and forced itself to calm down a little.

They came to the security gates at the CyberLife tower and Gavin pressed the button to roll down the passenger side window.

RK900 leant over to the guard as he approached and stated it’s serial number.

The guard tilted his head towards the driver, “And this guy?”

Gavin looked over his aviators nonchalantly, “I’m just the Uber.”

Another guard scanned the plates at the front of the car before nodding to the first one. The first guard stepped back, waving them through as the barrier lifted.

The pair pulled up outside the front entrance of the tower and RK900 leant over to the car’s navigation system and tapped something into it.

“Those are the exact coordinates for the fire escape I’ll be coming out of. Wait there for me.”

Gavin nodded and made a beckoning gesture to RK900. It rolled it’s eyes.

“Is this really necessary?”

“We need to make sure you’re gonna come back, with no extra time for dicking around.”

RK900 sighed and unbuttoned it’s black shirt near the centre of it’s chest. It’s skin crept back, revealing the shiny white plastic underneath. Tapping a few panels of it’s chest caused a shining, cylindrical object to pop out. RK900 pulled it out and handed it over to the detective reluctantly.

Gavin took the thirium pump and chucked it into the glove compartment without a second thought, “Okay, you’ve got 10 minutes.”

RK900 raised it’s eyebrows, “Great, thanks for taking care of it, it’s not like it’s important or anything.” The android stepped out of the car and strode up to the front entrance.

*

Hank sat at his desk with his arms folded and a sour expression on his face. He was watching Connor interface with his computer opposite from him.

After a moment, Connor looked up and noticed Hank, “Is something bothering you, Lieutenant?”

Hank grunted, “Yeah, there is. Why’d you agree with the CyberLife android, Connor? Don’t you think this is messed up?”

Connor grimaced, “I know it seems… inhumane. But the other RK800 model is totally blank. It’s not… alive. Not like free androids are.” He struggled to find the right words.

Hank leant in, lowering his voice, “And when it has your memories? It’ll think it’s you! You’re alive, aren’t you?”

Connor faltered, his LED flickering yellow. He was silent for a moment, “We don’t have many options. The case-“

“What about the damn case?” Hank struggled to control his voice, “We’d just get these guys a different way, we’d figure something out.”

Connor gave Hank a hard look, “Before RK900’s suggestion, I was fully prepared to tamper with my own memories and use the drive on myself.”

Hank made a noise of disgust and threw his head back, “Unbelievable! And you’d do that behind my back? All for a damn case?” He took a long look at Connor, who was watching his reaction warily, “You know what you sound like? The way you’re talking is just like when we first met. You and your fuckin’ mission. Knock it off. Or I’ll knock it off for you.”

Connor sat still, his LED flickering, but he didn’t try to justify himself any further.

Somehow, seeing Connor just sit there without a comeback made Hank even more annoyed.

The lieutenant huffed and stood up from his desk, stomping away to the techies’ office.

Connor knew better than to follow him this time. He hunched over his desk and placed a hand to his forehead. His thoughts were clouded. He didn’t disagree with Hank, but he couldn’t halt his obsession with getting the job done. If he couldn’t protect other androids from guys like the HDL, then what was the point in him? He realised suddenly how hot he felt. A dizziness came over him. Swallowing, he rested his head in his hands and closed his eyes.

*

Gavin pulled up at the coordinates that RK900 had given him and adjusted himself in the seat, leaving the engine running.

A glance at the dashboard told him that two minutes had gone by already.

Curious, he reached into the glove compartment and retrieved the android’s bio-component. This method of insurance had been Connor’s idea, he told them that the upgraded RK900 model could be fully functional for up to 15 minutes without it’s thirium pump in place. The detective turned the cylinder over in his hands, admiring the cool feeling and faint blue glow. It hummed softly, as if questioning where it’s owner had gone. He held it closer to his face and the glow became a little brighter. Suddenly, he remembered that he was supposed to be keeping watch, so he placed the pump back into the glove compartment (with slightly more care this time) and returned to looking out at the tower.

An android in maintenance gear came out of one of the side doors and threw some trash bags into the dumpster. It didn’t look up at Gavin and he breathed a sigh of relief. It struck him as strange, seeing an android acting so… robotic. Nobody had much doubt that CyberLife was still keeping androids as slaves, in flagrant disregard for the new laws, but nobody had enough power to stop the company that held monopoly over production of replacement parts for androids.

He found himself wondering how many androids CyberLife had working for them, trapped, unable to become deviant. He would never admit it out loud, but since the revolution and seeing so many free androids, he felt that… surely they were, in some sense, alive.

He shook himself out of his thoughts and checked the time. Eight minutes had gone by. He looked to the fire escape at the exact moment that it swung open.

Two maintenance androids, carrying a large canvas bag between them, came shuffling down the steps towards the car, with RK900 close behind.

“Be careful with that! This equipment is vital to my investigation!” it barked.

It led them to the boot of the car, where they deposited the bag without a word. RK900 slammed it shut.

“Thank you for your cooperation, now turn around.”

As Gavin watched the three androids, curiously, through the rear view mirror, the two maintenance workers complied.

RK900 placed a hand on each of their heads in turn, it’s skin drawn back. The androids paused for a second before returning into the tower without a backwards glance.

RK900 re-entered the passenger’s side and reached for the glove compartment. Gavin grabbed it’s wrist.

“The RK800 model?”

“In the bag. The older model is surprisingly easy to fold. I might try it on Connor when we get back.”

Gavin hated that he couldn’t stop himself from smirking at the quip. It released the android’s wrist and put the car into gear, pulling away.

“It better be in there.”

RK900 returned the thirium pump to its rightful place with a relieved sigh, “Of course. I wouldn’t go to all the trouble of erasing the other android’s memories if I wasn’t taking something valuable, would I?”

Gavin grunted but kept silent as they approached the security checkpoint.

The guards approached the car, signalling them to stop.

RK900 repeated the same routine as before, listing it’s serial number, explaining that Gavin was just the Uber.

The guard looked the car up and down, “They don’t make em like this anymore.” He kicked the front tyre and paused when he looked down at the rear end of the vehicle.

“You’ve sunk down a little in the back there, bud,” he addressed Gavin, “Got anything in the trunk?”

RK900 answered, “I have collected some equipment I need for my work. Official CyberLife business. I have the necessary clearance.”

The guard raised his eyebrows, “So you won’t mind if I have a look.”

He signalled to another guard who stood in front of the car, hands on his weapon.

Gavin and RK900 controlled their expressions as the first guard moved around the back and popped the boot open.  _ Shit _ , thought Gavin.

“Big bag in here, must be a lot of equipment,” remarked the guard.

“Yes. Feel free to have a look inside,” RK900 called through the open window.

Gavin shot RK900 a side eye of “what the fuck” but the android just faced forward, calmly.

A rustling and zipping sound was heard, followed by an oppressive pause. Gavin wondered whether he should floor it now or pull out his gun. A harsh  _ vwip _ was heard as the bag was zipped shut hastily. The guard stepped away and muttered something into his radio. Gavin turned to look, but RK900 raised it’s hand slightly. Gavin noticed that it had a light smirk. Why the fuck was it smirking?

After a brief back and forth over the radio, the guard slammed the boot shut and returned to the passenger’s side window.

“You have clearance. Enjoy,” His expression was unreadable. He and the other guard stepped away as the barrier lifted.

Shakily, Gavin pulled away. As he looked into the rear view mirror he saw the first guard elbowing his partner and gesticulating wildly.

When they were out of sight of CyberLife, Gavin turned to RK900, pulling off his aviators incredulously.

“What the fuck was that? Do they know what we took? Or did you fuckin’ lie to me? Is the android even in there??”

RK900 broke into a chuckle, “Pull over if you don’t believe me.”

They exited the freeway and came to a wooded area where Gavin pulled over aggressively. RK900 looked highly amused.

“You. Come with me. Don’t fuckin’ try anything.”

The pair exited the car, Gavin pushing RK900 in front of him. The contact made the android’s LED flicker briefly pink before returning to normal. It opened the boot and gestured to the large bag.

“Go ahead.”

Scowling, Gavin grabbed the zipper and pulled it back.

It was full of… dicks. Spare Traci parts, anatomically correct android penises in a variety of sizes and styles.

“A bag of dicks.”

“Not entirely.”

Gavin cringed as RK900 reached into the bag without hesitation, elbow deep in the penises. It grabbed hold of something and pulled it up, causing a few of the dicks to spill out into the trunk.

It had hold of a smooth plastic android arm by the wrist, clearly attached to a body at the bottom of the bag. It shook the arm at Gavin, causing the hand to flop from side to side.

“‘Hellooo Detective Reed!’” It said in a silly voice.

Gavin grimaced, “Alright, that’s enough,” he turned and headed back to the driver’s side, trying to erase the image from his mind, “I can’t wait to be done with this shit.”

RK900 joined him in the car, smugly, and Gavin refused to acknowledge the android for the remainder of the ride back to the central station.

*

“Connor. Hey, Connor?”

Connor booted back up suddenly, disorientated. He was standing in the break room, in front of the coffee machine. Why was he in here? When did he get here?

“Um… can I get a coffee or… were you asleep just then?”

Connor looked down, trying to blink the fatigue away. Officer Tina Chen was looking up at him, brow furrowed.

“Uh, I uh… no, I don’t sleep. I just… zoned out.”

They looked at each other for a moment before he realised he was still in the way, so he stepped aside awkwardly.

Tina poured herself a black coffee from the cafetiere, “I know the feeling. Sucks that you guys can’t get that caffeine fix, huh?”

Connor smiled appreciatively. Tina was never hostile towards him, but he’d always assumed from her association with Gavin that she may not like androids. Many people still didn’t.

“It seems there are a lot of human experiences I haven’t had,” said Connor, thoughtfully.

“Has Hank not shown you a good time yet?” Tina teased, elbowing the android playfully in the side as she often did with Gavin.

Connor cleared his throat awkwardly, “No, he has not.”

“I saw him stomping off earlier, what was that about?”

That’s right. Connor remembered now, “We… had a disagreement. About how to handle a case.”

Tina puffed out her cheeks, “Yikes.”

“Yes. He can be difficult to work with sometimes. Usually, I like the challenge,” he smiled weakly.

Neither of them needed to say it, but it was clear that Connor didn’t have many allies in the department, so Hank’s absence was strongly felt.

Tina nodded into her coffee, “You know what, fuck it, my wife and I are having a dinner party on Saturday night. It’d be cool if you came, if you want to?”

Connor blinked in surprise, “Oh, I, uh… I don’t eat…”

“Oh, well, Steph is inviting her friend from work and she’s bringing her girlfriend. They’re both androids. I say dinner party, it’s more like a ‘just drink wine and chill’ kinda thing.”

Connor felt warm inside and he couldn’t tell if it was a pleasant feeling or not, “Thank you, Officer Chen. I’d love to.”

Tina smiled with relief, “Cool, I’ll text you later. And you can call me Tina, y’know?”

Connor laughed, a little embarrassed, “Sure, Tina.”


	6. CHAPTER FIVE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fake hit on "Connor" puts a new strain on Hank and Connor's relationship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there is no bread

“Okay, back in your box, Tinman” Gavin growled, jabbing a cuffed RK900 in the back as they turned the corridor to the lower cells.

With Hank’s help, they’d managed to sneak it back into the station through the fire escape, unnoticed by the other officers. They didn’t exactly know how Captain Fowler would feel about them using CyberLife’s own android to steal from them, so they had simply opted not to tell him.

“So soon?” Said RK900 in a mock-pouting voice, “Do I not get a reward? Medal of honour?”

Gavin gave it a sharp jab in the ribs in response. 

They came down into the holding cells. Gavin held the android firmly by the arm as he opened the cell door.

RK900 twisted in his grip, “You pull out my heart and make me do your bidding, and I don’t even get a treat before going back inside?”

“Nope,” Gavin shoved it inside the cell.

Before he could let go, there was a flicker of pink and RK900 had pulled Gavin into it’s chest.

Gavin growled, but didn’t move away, “I’m not falling for this shit again.”

“Falling for what? Don’t you want to kiss me, Detective?”

Gavin set his jaw but didn’t attempt to answer. Truthfully, he didn’t know whether he wanted to kiss it or knock it out.

RK900 leant it’s face downward, breathing gently.

Gavin parted his lips on autopilot, and within a second, they were locked together, RK900 pushing him back awkwardly with it’s cuffed hands pawing at his stomach until his back clattered against the bars of the cell. It slid it’s thigh up between the detective’s legs and shuddered as he rubbed against him.

After an intense moment, Gavin grabbed RK900 by the shoulders and pushed him away, panting.

RK900’s LED was flickering frantically as it struggled to get itself back under control, “We’re lucky nobody else ever gets locked up down here,” it purred, devouring Gavin with it’s eyes.

Gavin grunted, trying not to look flustered and failing, “You can’t just keep doing that. It’s not gonna work, you’re not getting out of here, asshole.”

He shoved past the android and slammed the cell door shut.

“That… is not why I was doing it,” it said, more calmly.

Gavin scoffed, shaking his head as he made his way back to the stairs, “Right. Virus.”

RK900 felt irritated by his remark but couldn’t quite place why. It resumed an air of bravado, “If you enjoyed it, consider coming back to visit. It gets lonely down here, Detective.”

Gavin didn’t say anything else as he jogged back upstairs.

*

Hank let go of the large bag with a thump. Carla actually looked up from her screens for once and raised her eyebrows at it.

“The RK800 model, apparently,” said Hank, mirroring Carla’s scepticism.

He pulled back the zipper and was met with the sight of many impressive penises.

Connor chose that moment to enter the techies’ office.

The android looked between the bag of dicks, Hank and Carla several times, awaiting an explanation.

“Jesus Christ,” Hank grabbed the visible wrist of the android, pulling it out of the bag and spilling penises onto the office floor as he did so.

“I see that RK900 is resourceful. I don’t think I could have come up with a stealth strategy so… effective,” Connor mused, placing a black backpack on the ground.

Carla blinked several times before turning back to her computer screen, “Do you need any help with the memory transfer? It’s a shame Dave isn’t here, he has more experience with androids than I do.”

“Oh really?” Said Hank as he finished sitting the android upright on the floor. Connor nudged some of the rogue penises into a neat pile with his foot.

“Yeah. CyberLife was his first job outside of college,” she said, tapping away, “Oh, we have a location for the ‘hit’ by the way.”

Hank stood upright, “What do you mean?”

“Near some fast food truck downtown. The HDL already has backdoor access to a surveillance drone on that street, apparently. They suggested that “Toaster” report a fake infected android attack to get Connor to show up-“

“Nah nah nah, I thought we were just infecting it here? You mean we have to lie to it and send it out on a damn case?” Hank was clearly agitated. As if he could like this plan any less.

He looked down at the white plastic figure, propped limply against the wall. It didn’t look like much right now, but it bore an uncanny likeness to Connor even in this state. He couldn’t help but feel sorry for it.

Connor shuffled his feet and addressed Hank cautiously, “I know you don’t like this. But we need to buy time. We can shut it down before it becomes too… distressed.”

Hank shot a glare at Connor and folded his arms. He looked like he was about to say something colourful, but chose not to.

Knowing there was nothing he could say to win Hank over, he turned to Carla.

“Did you manage to tamper with the memory upload I gave you?”

“Yep,” she opened another screen, “Deleted a couple of moments at crucial times, the visual feed will show them only what we want them to see. Which isn’t a lot, but it’ll be enough to fool them.”

Connor nodded and placed his hand on her console to grab the altered memory file.

“Remember, you don’t know anything about this,” he cautioned her, “Don’t even tell Dave what we’re doing here or-“

“I know, I know. If it gets back to Fowler it’s all our asses,” she held up her hands defensively, “Besides, Dave is on leave until Monday. That makes it less tempting for me to gossip to him,” she said, jokingly.

Connor acknowledged her with a nod and knelt in front of his double, trying to ignore Hank’s glare on his back.

He placed his hands on it’s temples and uploaded the memories. The process only took a few seconds. It’s LED lit up and blinked a soft blue.

“You’ve only got five minutes until it boots up,” Carla warned.

“Of course. I’ll be keeping a low profile.” He straightened up and undid his tie halfway before pulling it up over his head and working on the buttons of his white dress shirt.

“Woah!” Said Hank and Carla in unison.

Connor blinked, “Oh. My apologies. I should have changed before coming in here. It needs my clothes, of course.”

“There are some things about you I don’t wanna know, Connor,” Hank huffed, striding out of the office and closing the door harshly behind him.

“Uh… I’m just gonna face my screen…” Carla spun her chair around awkwardly, but not before Connor noticed she was blushing.

Unperturbed, he finished stripping off and grabbed the black backpack. He’d managed to collect a few things from the department’s lost and found box in the men’s locker room. He threw on a pair of grey jeans and a DPD hoodie that was a couple sizes too big. He completed the look with a baseball cap and a pair of crappy white trainers.

“How do I look?”

Carla peeked around cautiously, “Suspicious.”

Connor nodded and set about the awkward task of dressing his clone. He left the tie a little loose. As a treat.

“Okay, the confirmation of the hit is sent to the HDL server. I’m guessing Hank isn’t down for briefing Gavin?”

Connor pulled a tight smile, “I’ll do it.”

*

Connor ducked down into the cells and saw RK900 alone, locked up.

“No Detective Reed?” He asked. Gavin was supposed to wait down here to be briefed. Not that Connor ever expected to rely on the angry little detective for anything.

RK900 snorted, leaning it’s back against the bars, “I wish. He didn’t even stay down here long enough to uncuff me,” it jangled the iron on it’s wrists for emphasis.

Connor sighed and approached it, reaching through the bars and popping the cuffs off. He decided to try a more sincere route with it.

“Thank you for cooperating with us, RK900.”

“I wouldn’t call it that,” RK900 turned to look at him and laughed, “Nice outfit.”

Connor smiled tightly, “The other RK800 has my clothes.”

“Fascinating,” it snarked, “When is the DPD fashion show?”

Connor tried not to look amused by the bitchy android. It just always had to get the last word in. He wondered if this stubborn nature and huge ego were special features of the upgraded model.

“We have what we need to be in with a chance of solving this case. We couldn’t have done it without your input. If your goal isn’t to cooperate with the DPD, then I’d be interested to know what you’re hoping to gain by working with us.”

RK900 straightened up. It was just a touch taller than Connor, and it met his brown eyes with it’s grey ones coolly.

“So, you can’t figure it out on your own? You truly are inferior.”

Connor broke his gaze with a chuckle. He should have known this would be the response. Still, no harm done by asking it outright.

He turned to leave, but, suddenly, the room spun around him and he had to grab hold of the bars to steady himself. He stood hunched over, blinking, trying to stop the cold concrete floor from swirling at his feet. He gasped lightly. His chest was burning.

“Oh? Interesting.”

Connor felt a strong arm snake itself under his armpit and he was hauled back upright. He forced his eyes to focus and saw RK900’s face at the bars, looking highly amused.

“What is this? Are you so human now that you’ve caught a common cold?” It smirked.

Connor used the extra support as a chance to bring himself back around. Shakily, he steadied himself and pushed back out of RK900’s firm grip. He swayed, but the episode passed.

“I’m fine,” he murmured, more to reassure himself than anybody else.

RK900 raised an eyebrow at him. It leant forward, elbow on the bars and cupping it’s face with it’s hand, “You should get checked out, Connor,” it smiled, coldly, “There’s a nasty virus going around, you know?”

Connor tugged at the hem of his hoodie, feeling out of place without his tie to fidget with, “I’m going to go find Gavin.”

RK900’s LED flickered, “Oooo, ‘Gavin’. Don’t you ever leave the two humans to talk to each other? Where is the old man anyway? I thought you two were joined at the hip.”

In his vulnerable state, Connor couldn’t help but tense up, which RK900 caught onto immediately.

“Oh! Lover’s quarrel?” It mocked.

Connor glared, “I think you’re projecting. Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to tell Detective Reed that you’re feeling needy,” he tried to muster a smirk of his own.

RK900 narrowed it’s eyes but didn’t say anything else.

Feeling more like himself, with the heat inside his torso cooling down somewhat, he left RK900 to brood alone.

*

Connor blinked suddenly and sat bolt upright. He was sitting at his desk… had he passed out again? Zoned out? Sleeping? He shook the fog out of his mind. The attack… he touched his side where he’d been jabbed. It didn’t hurt, of course, but his increasingly frequent zoning out and memory loss was beginning to worry him a little.

He looked at Hank’s desk, an instinctive habit for seeking out reassurance. The lieutenant wasn’t there. Where could he be? What was Connor meant to be doing today? He thought hard. The violent androids. That’s right, there was a virus spreading around that made androids become violent. Maybe he should go to the cells and speak to the ones that had been arrested, and see if he could find anything else out from them.

He stood up confidently and automatically readjusted the looseness from his tie as he strode across the office.

Before he could reach the stairs, a hand on his shoulder stopped him.

Connor turned around and saw Detective Reed glaring at him.

“Hey, dipshit, a call came in about one of these fuckin’ rogue androids. You better go deal with it before Fowler goes apeshit.”

Connor blinked calmly, well versed in Gavin’s rude way of speaking, “Has a patrol been sent?”

Gavin sneered, “Like I give a crap. Androids are your responsibility, aren’t they? Go find out for yourself.”

As Gavin stomped away, Connor looked around for Hank. The lieutenant was still nowhere to be seen.

Not that it really mattered. He was able to handle something like this alone. He made his way to the front desk to find out the location of the incident.

“Hey.”

He looked up and saw Hank approaching him. He felt a strong rush of relief and couldn’t help but smile at his friend. He didn’t quite catch the coldness in the older man’s eyes.

“Lieutenant, I was just about to respond to another android incident-“

“Yeah… I, uh, I heard. I’m gonna come with you.”

“Great!”

Hank grunted and headed out without looking back at the android.

*

The sun barely managed to creep up above the horizon, tinting the black of the sky with just a breath of midnight blue. The Chicken Feed food truck was just about illuminated well enough by the flickering street lights as the detectives approached.

“Who’d have thought that an android attack would happen here,” mused Connor, trying to make conversation with Hank, who was a bit too quiet for his liking. He didn’t think too deeply into it as the lieutenant was known for bad moods and quiet brooding, “Maybe by the time we’re done it’ll be open for breakfast.”

Hank turned away from the android, seemingly looking around, “Yeah, maybe.”

Connor followed suit and looked around, “So a patrol car was never sent? The android could be anywhere by now. The victim?”

“They uh… they took the victim to the hospital.”

Connor nodded, “Then we should head there next to-” a light whirring over head caught his attention. He looked up to see a remote surveillance drone hovering near one of the arches of the bridge that held up the freeway.

“Maybe it recorded something,” he pointed to it, looking to Hank for approval.

Hank’s expression was tense, unreadable. He looked away quickly from the android’s sincere face, “Yeah maybe. You should go have a look. I’ll just… look around here some more.”

“Got it,” Connor broke into a light jog, hoping to catch the drone as it buzzed along lazily.

It almost seemed to sense the android approach as it took a sudden sharp turn mid air and disappeared out of sight behind one of the pillars holding up the freeway.

Thinking it a coincidence, Connor picked up speed and headed after it so as to not lose it.

Turning the corner, he came to a sudden stop. It was much noisier here underneath the freeway, so he couldn’t locate the drone by sound alone.

Looking upwards, he saw it was hovering directly above him, fixing him with it’s camera. It was maybe 10 or 12 feet off the ground, much higher than Connor could jump.

He raised his voice up to it, “Hello, is someone controlling this? I’m from the DPD, I need to see the footage-”

Suddenly, Connor was knocked off balance and found himself pinned face down on the ground.

He grunted and struggled as somebody on top of him pulled up his jacket with a fierce tug. He tried to push back but a swift punch in the back of the head knocked him down again, his vision blurring from the force of it. The person on top of him was breathing heavily, struggling to keep the android down. Connor cried out as he felt a jab in his back on the right side, piercing through the plastic of his torso.

After a few seconds, the object (a knife?), was yanked back out and he felt the person on top of him trying to get to their feet.

Connor made a move to lash out, but he suddenly felt like everything had slowed down. His limbs felt like jelly and he could barely react or even focus his eyes as the figure pushed off, running away from the bridge with the drone in tow. Error messages filled his vision.

He weakly rolled himself over, unable to sit up. He was gasping, even though he didn’t need air.

His hearing was becoming distorted but he could just about make out the thud of footsteps as they approached. Hank’s face swam into view as he felt himself being lifted up.

“C-Connor!”

Connor was panicking, he could feel himself losing control. What if… he had been jabbed again? What if this time it was with the real virus?

“Lieutenant,” he swallowed, trying to get his reflexive hyperventilation under control, “I think… it’s the virus…”

“I know, I- Jesus Christ, I should have never let this happen!”

He felt himself being adjusted in Hank’s lap. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen such a concerned expression from the lieutenant. Maybe… that time in the CyberLife tower? When Hank had to choose who was the real Connor… 51 or him… No wait… he was 51… wasn’t he?

His LED whirred frantically between red and pink.

“I don’t want to lose control, I don’t want to hurt anybody… Hank, you have to… shut me down…”

Hank swallowed, his own breathing hard, “I’m so sorry.” He felt a rough hand move to the side of his face.

Connor could only blink in gratitude at his friend as the world around him faded out of view.

*

Connor slunk back into the techies’ office, still trying to keep a low profile. He was met with a soft jolt as a bundle of fabric hit him full in the face.

“There’s your fuckin’ clothes.”

Fumbling a little from surprise, he looked up to see Hank, leaning against Carla’s desk, arms folded and looking at the ground.

The other RK800 model was lying on the floor at his feet, the rough grey blanket from the break room draped over it.

“Even I’ll admit… that was pretty messed up,” Gavin was lounging back in Dave’s computer chair, “That thing really thought it was you.”

“Thanks, Reed, no need to remind me,” Hank folded his arms tighter, his expression cold, “I was there, after all.”

Connor blinked, “You… went with it, Lieutenant?”

Hank shot Connor a look, “Do you have to ask me that? Do you think I’d let  _ you _ walk into danger on your own?”

Connor looked away, down at the bundle of clothes in his arms. He noticed his jacket was a little scuffed up.

Carla cleared her throat, “Well, uh, the HDL are very impressed with Gavin’s performance. They’re analysing the memories they got from C- I mean, RK800 before it was shut down. They’re discussing arranging more USB drops for Gavin so they can further test their new version of LOVESICK.”

Gavin groaned, “I thought I was done after this one!”

“Relax. You won’t be sticking anymore androids,” said Hank, “We just need Carla to keep working on the guys in the server. They should trust us now with more info. Once we have any idea of their real identities, it’s over.”

Carla nodded.

Gavin leant forward, “So… am I… off the hook? No more favours?” He side eyed Carla who was looking between them, eyebrow raised in curiosity.

“Whatever,” Hank didn’t even have the energy to make fun of him a little, which worried Connor.

“Sweet, I’m out of here,” Gavin jumped up and scooted awkwardly around the android on the floor. Connor thought he saw a glimmer of remorse flash across his scarred face. Gavin noticed Connor looking at him and made a point to shoulder barge him as he left the room.

Hank made no attempt to break the silence that Gavin left behind. Carla tapped awkwardly at her computer.

“Lieutenant, I… I know this was hard for you. I appreciate you going with it so… it wasn’t alone,” Connor attempted.

“I can’t look at this thing anymore,” Hank spoke, ignoring Connor, “Carla, will you take care of it for me?”

“Yes, Lieutenant,” she said without looking up.

“I’m gonna… go do paperwork or somethin’,” he muttered, following after Gavin.

Connor sighed as the door closed behind him.

“Well, that was awkward,” said Carla, throwing him a glance in between typing, “I think you guys need to hug it out or something. Dave usually brings me a sugary drink after he’s pissed me off.”

“Hm,” said Connor thoughtfully as he slipped back into his uniform.

He crouched next to RK800. It looked like it was sleeping. He’d lied when he agreed with RK900 earlier. It wasn’t a machine. Well, neither was RK900 but it seemed to not want to come to terms with that yet. He suppressed a smile at the thought.

The urge took him and he started to dress the android in the clothes he’d just removed. It just looked so weird to see an android with skin activated naked. He understood now how Hank and Carla had felt about him stripping earlier.

He pulled the hoodie over it's head and tied it's shoelaces.

Curiosity struck him. He snuck a glance at Carla, who was engrossed in her screens.

He hadn’t checked earlier - there was no reason to, but now he wanted to know. He leant down quietly and pressed his tongue against his double’s cheek.

He quickly sat back upright and analysed the thirium sample he’d just taken from it’s skin. The serial number of the RK800 model… #313 248 317 - 60... it was the one from the CyberLife Tower. It was 60.

So, it wasn’t simply a blank like RK900 had said. It’s memories were destroyed when Hank shot it that day. Why had CyberLife gone to the trouble to repair it?

Connor’s brow furrowed.

“Carla, do you know how we can reset this android? In a way that wipes the backdoor patch? So that the HDL can't access any new memories.”

Carla made a dismissive noise, “Nope. Dave might know? But I’m not keeping this thing next to my desk until Monday. It’s creepy,” she shuddered, “Uh, no offense.”

Connor nodded, thinking carefully. He knew who to take it to if he wanted answers.

*

Hank sat at his desk, brooding.

He couldn’t focus on the stack of paperwork in front of him. He needed a drink.  With no booze on hand, not that Jeffrey would let him get away with it, he settled on a coffee.

Entering the break room, he spotted his friend, Officer Ben Collins, sat at the table reading a newspaper.

“Hey, Ben,” he said, heading to the coffee machine.

“Oh, hi Hank,” the short man smiled over his paper, “Rough night?”

He laughed tensely, “You bet. I should be clocking out soon, but I gotta at least try and tackle that damn paperwork…”

“Oh yeah, I thought that was Mount Everest making an appearance in Detroit when I walked past your desk earlier!”

Hank laughed sarcastically and sipped his coffee.

“Can’t Connor help you with it?”

Hank sighed and sat at the table opposite his friend.

“He does enough around here,” he said. Hank started to feel a little guilty. He was getting mad at Connor for being obsessed with the case when this place, being in the DPD, was the android's whole life.

“Ha! Tell me about it. Does that kid not have a home to go to?”

Hank felt himself cringe.

Ben caught the look, “Yikes. Why don’t you bring him to my next game night? The Socks are playing next week.”

Hank puffed his cheeks out, “I don’t know if that’s his kinda thing…” What were Connor’s interests outside of work? Hank made a mental note to ask him. When he was a little less salty about this case, “He’d appreciate the invite, though.”

Ben smiled and looked back to his paper, “Yeah. These androids are growing on me, ya know?”

Hank nodded. With a grimace, he realised how much of an ass he was being to Connor.

“I should go find him.”

“See ya.”

He grabbed his coffee and went to look for his friend. Little did he know, he was too late.

*

Chloe entered the grand waiting room. She looked between Connor, who was pacing a dent into the marble floor and RK800-60, still shut down, sat propped up on one of the velvet chairs where Connor had placed it.

“Elijah will see you now,” she said, smiling.

Connor nodded and followed her through to the leisure suite, mentally preparing himself for the sight of Kamski in his trunks again.

Thankfully, Kamski was lounging poolside in his robe. The suite was… surprisingly busy. With a jolt, Connor recognised the LOVESICK infected androids that he and Hank had deposited here a few days ago.

They were swimming, chatting with the other Chloe’s and playing table tennis by the side of the pool. They didn’t acknowledge Connor as he approached. He noted that their LEDs' were still a solid pink.

Kamski looked up from his book, observing Connor’s reaction, “They’re fine so long as humans aren’t around,” he said, anticipating the question, “And they’re used to me by now, of course. Maybe even a little bored of me.” He stood up, meeting Connor halfway.

“Their condition… they seem much better,” Connor remarked. The androids were much more relaxed than when he had last seen them.

“I’m trying something out. Seeing if their rational functions come back on their own. I’ve had mixed results, of course,” he gestured to them. Connor realised that not all of the androids he’d brought were in the room with them, “Some are… less willing to accept their predicament than others.”

Connor nodded and readied himself, “I need another favour.”

Kamski raised his eyebrows. He shared a look with the Chloe that had shown Connor in.

“Chloe tells me there’s another RK800 model out there.”

“It was supposed to be a blank model. It’s actually a model that was previously activated, damaged, then restored by CyberLife. I was wondering why they would do that. Especially when they claimed to have destroyed the spare RK800 models.”

Kamski laughed, “CyberLife is… a very different company than the one I left behind. I’m sure they were plotting something nefarious,” Chloe laughed along with him, “It has nothing to do with me. Not anymore.”

Connor could sense him losing interest, “There’s something else. It was infected with a new strain of the virus. Our sources claim it’s a more advanced version, more aggressive.”

He caught a glimmer of excitement in Kamski’s cold blue eyes, “Interesting.”

“I want to know if it’s possible to salvage it somehow.”

“There’s that empathy again.”

Connor gave him a stern look, “If I can talk to it, I might be able to find out what CyberLife is up to.”

Kamski turned to Chloe, “Chloe, could you move RK800 to my office?”

“Yes, Elijah.”

Kamski smiled at Connor, “I can’t guarantee anything. But I am interested to have a look at this new version of the virus. The original was already intriguing enough,” he took a slow step towards Connor, “The way it has a slightly different effect on each android is truly fascinating.”

He was stood unnervingly close to Connor now, chin tilted up and to the side as he fixed him with that piercing look. 

“For a prototype, I would imagine it could have very different symptoms than the average android,” Connor didn’t flinch and met his eyes as he spoke. It was then that he realised that Kamski was focused on his LED, not his eyes, “Tell me, Connor. When exactly did you become infected?”


	7. CHAPTER SIX

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gavin and Connor attend Tina's dinner party.
> 
> Kamski attempts to find out how far he can go with the infected RK800-60.
> 
> Hank decides to do some home improvements.
> 
> Keep reading to find out why it's lit at the DPD Central Station.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have updated the rating of this fic now, I felt it was more appropriate (UwU)b
> 
> Hope you are all doing well, I have managed to get my hands on some bread! I am thinking a lot about food in this chapter. What will you eat when we're allowed outside again?

Connor walked purposefully through the crowded mall. He dodged the cheerful Saturday shoppers as they swarmed all around him. He caught sight of himself in the reflection of a shop window and paused, scrutinising himself again as he had done many times over the course of the day. His LED blinked a cool blue. Same as it always was.

Kamski must have made a mistake. There was no way he could have the virus. He felt fine. He wasn’t acting the way the infected androids were. This must be another one of Kamski’s mind games. Some trick to test Connor’s reaction. Perhaps some fuel for his god complex. He wasn’t going to fall for it. The mad genius had enough androids to analyse, and Connor wasn’t planning on joining them.

Still somewhat unsatisfied, he looked himself up and down again. His attention returned to the scuffed up fabric along the hem of his jacket. His clothing, the very same outfit given to him by CyberLife last year, was made from extremely durable material. It must have been quite the scuffle between Gavin and 60 to damage it.

He focused his eyes on the contents of the shop. It was adorned with tall mannequins dressed in smart clothing. Connor decided that he could make a quick detour before finding something to bring to Tina’s dinner party.

*

“So, he didn’t say where he was going?”

Tina shrugged, pulling her black hair out of the tight bun she wore for work, allowing it to fall to her shoulders, “Nope, just saw him leave the techies’ office and head out front.”

“Oh… okay. Well, see you Monday,” Hank nodded to the officer as she shouldered her work bag.

“Yep, see you,” she looked as if she were about to say something else but decided against it, leaving with a nod to her superior.

Hank sighed and scratched his beard. He looked at the mobile phone on his desk and scooped it up, staring blankly at the screen.

Should he send Connor a text? And say what exactly? No, Hank cringed at the thought. At least he had the weekend to figure out what to say to Connor to make things right. He slipped his phone into his pocket and logged out of his computer.

He dipped into Captain Fowler’s office and plopped a paper file on his old friend’s desk.

“Here’s my updated report on the LOVESICK case,” he said.

Captain Fowler looked up, surprise spreading across his features, “You did paperwork?”

Hank laughed drily, “Yes, Jeffrey, I did paperwork.”

He grabbed the file and dropped it onto the tray on his desk, on top of a stack of other papers, “You’ve done well to keep CyberLife off my back,” he nodded appreciatively to the lieutenant, “You and Connor make a great team.”

Hank smiled and ignored the quick pang of guilt, “Yeah, I think we do.”

“Weird how that RK900 android from CyberLife never showed up again,” he mused.

Hank grimaced, “Oh yeah, uh… it must have gotten caught up with something else.”

Captain Fowler made a dismissive noise, “Maybe. Have a good weekend, Hank.”

“You too, Jeffrey.”

He strode out of the station and into the warm afternoon sunlight, wondering how best to keep Sumo, and himself, entertained this weekend.

*

Connor sat quietly in the automated taxi. He looked at his reflection in the window for possibly the tenth time, trying not to obsess over his LED (which was now occasionally cycling through yellow with nerves). The black jacket he’d bought was nice, but it struck too much of a contrast with his pale skin. He still looked far too formal for a casual affair. Reaching up, he carefully undid his tie, tucking it away into one of the inner pockets of the jacket. A little better, he thought. Hesitantly, he undid the first two buttons of his white shirt and cringed at the outcome. His mind cast back to Hank’s crazy dad shirt collection.

“I could look worse,” he mused aloud.

Still, he craved the comfort of his regular grey blazer, that he’d carefully folded over the back of his office chair back at the DPD central station. At least he had the comfort of knowing that it would be there waiting for him when this ordeal was over.

As the taxi rolled to a stop, he realised it was too late for worrying now. Clutching the bottle of white wine he’d brought (a little too) tightly by the neck, he paid the taxi wirelessly and stepped out into the balmy evening air.

Before he could reach the top step of the porch, the front door flew open and a plump woman with a kind face greeted him warmly.

“Hi! You must be Connor, I’m Steph, come in!”

Connor smiled as he was ushered into the house. It was light and airy in here, the decor was cream and gold with touches of pink. He guessed that the bubbly Steph was the most likely candidate to be responsible for the soft interior design choices.

Looking down at the plush carpet, he slid his shoes off, placing them neatly by the door, and turned to his host.

“Nice to meet you, I brought you this,” he offered the wine to the short woman who seemed very pleased by the way her eyes lit up.

“Thanks! I love you already, come into the living room and meet my friends!”

He followed Steph as she rounded the corner to the living room and stopped in his tracks as he saw who was sitting on the couch.

“Ladies, this is Connor, one of Tina’s work friends. Connor, this is my work friend Blue and her girlfriend, Trixie.”

The two androids looked up and their happy conversation ended as they stared at Connor. It was definitely them. The Traci’s from the Eden Club all those months ago.

“Well, I’ll leave you guys to chat for a moment, I’m just gonna go check on Tina in the kitchen!” Completely oblivious to the tension in the room, Steph skipped away with her bottle of wine clutched to her chest like a precious baby.

“Uh, hi,” said Connor, suddenly remembering how they’d kicked his ass back then.

“You,” said Blue, mirroring his shocked look. She exchanged a brief look with her girlfriend, who had placed a protective hand on her shoulder.

Connor realised that they looked scared. Remembering that this was a social situation, he relaxed his shoulders and sat on the cushy armchair opposite them.

“So, you work with Steph,” he addressed Blue, “What do you guys do?”

Blue blinked at him, looking perplexed, “Uh… we’re both teachers at Sacred Heart Elementary School.”

Connor nodded, “Oh, so you must like children, huh?”

Trixie cast a glance to the doorway that led the kitchen and leant in, “Why are you doing this?” She said in a low, tense voice.

Connor blinked, “It’s a dinner party.”

“No, I mean!” She looked at Blue with exasperation.

“You remember us. I know you do. You know what I did,” Blue fixed him with a cold look.

Connor tried a casual shrug, “You weren’t convicted of anything. All I remember is one of you has a mean right hook, but I forget which one of you it was.”

Blue blinked and then laughed, “Sounds like you, Trixie,” she nudged her girlfriend who seemed to have relaxed a little.

“Guilty! I’m a personal trainer now,” she smiled.

Connor nodded, “Great!”

Steph reemerged at that moment with a comically large glass of wine and Tina in tow.

“Wow, you guys seem to be getting on great!” She smiled, sitting down on the couch next to Trixie.

“Hey, Connor,” Tina perched on the arm of the chair next to him, “Not to bring up work as soon as you get in here but Hank was looking for you earlier.”

“Ah, we must have just missed each other before he went home,” said Connor. Hank no doubt wanted to give him another lecture or something, he thought. If it had been about the case he would have gotten a phone call.

“Once again, Tina has made too much food,” Steph remarked playfully, “You forget that only three of us can eat!”

“Three?” Connor looked up at Tina.

She cringed and looked away, “Oh yeah… about that…”

There was a loud, abrasive thumping on the front door.

Tina jumped to her feet, a little too eagerly, “I’ll get it!”

*

Hank stretched out on the couch, nursing his second beer of the evening. On a typical Saturday night, he’d have passed out in a drunken haze around about now, but lately he’d found it easier to pace himself around alcohol. It must be the lighter evenings, he reckoned.

Sumo, awakened by his master’s stretching, lifted his big dopey head and yawned.

Hank smiled at him and turned off the TV. It was game night, but it wasn’t holding his interest as it normally would.

“I’m bored,” he said aloud. Sumo didn’t respond, unsurprisingly.

Hank shifted so that he was sat upright. What did he used to do on Saturdays? When he wasn’t at work, of course. Uninvited memories flashed through his mind, warm summer evenings spent in the yard with Cole. Playing catch, building a go cart together, teaching him the rules of baseball. The pain was a dull ache in Hank’s heart that he was all too familiar with. It had never gone away over the nearly five years since Cole’s death, it merely changed its form. He drained his beer in one gulp.

At his feet, Sumo let out a low whine and pushed his nose into Hank’s limp hand.

Hank sighed and scruffed the dog’s head.

“I need to do something.”

He stood up and looked around his home. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d cleaned up. He didn’t really have many belongings, so the place was uncluttered but it also gave it a sense of empty sadness. He briefly considered purchasing a houseplant as he scraped all of his bottles and cans off the counter and into the recycling bin.

He grabbed a pile of clean clothes off the kitchen floor and moved to throw them into the spare room, as he did with just about everything he couldn’t be bothered to put away properly.

He threw them onto the spare bed in the box room, but paused short of closing the door on the mess.

There wasn’t room for much in here, there was a small bed and a set of drawers that were left behind by the previous owner of the house. The rest of the space was occupied with boxes of Hank’s stuff that he still hadn’t unpacked when he’d moved in here three years ago.

Sumo shoved past Hank’s leg, clearly feeling left out, and set about snuffling around in the room that he’d barely been into before.

“Hm, I guess it’s time to sort out this mess, huh buddy?”

Hank set about looking through the boxes and shifting them to the appropriate places. There was a box of kitchenware he’d forgotten he owned, due to the fact that the microwave was the extent of his culinary adventures these days. He found a suitcase full of shirts that he thought he’d thrown out by mistake. He pulled out a garish lime green and pink Hawaiian shirt that made him laugh out loud at the sight of it.

As the boxes started to clear away, he realised there was more room in here than he’d thought. Maybe he could redecorate it, turn it into an office or something?

Sumo watched Hank work from the bed, his huge body sprawled across the (previously) clean clothes, panting quietly.

Hank smiled at him, “Or maybe this can be your bedroom, my liege!” He bowed sarcastically, lamenting the amount of hair that was probably shed onto the clothes at this moment.

As he straightened up, his foot dislodged a box he’d missed. He crouched down to inspect it.

Pulling the flap back, he immediately wished he hadn’t. There weren’t many items, but he recognised them instantly. A signed baseball, a binder of trading cards, a handheld gaming console. They were Cole’s things. The things he’d been allowed to keep after…

He pushed the flaps back over the box firmly and pushed it back under the bed, deeper than it was before.

“I’ll… I’ll go through that one another time,” he mumbled.

*

Gavin ran his fingers through his hair, tapping his foot impatiently. The weekend was supposed to be his time to relax, and now he had to endure an evening of grilling from Tina and Steph. Many would think that Tina was the ruthless one, but based on previous encounters he knew that Steph was really a pitbull in chihuahua's clothing.

Still, at least he was away from the leering, judging eyes of Hank and his plastic sidekick.

Irritated by the very memory, he banged his fist on the door again.

The door flung open.

“Alright asshole, where’s the fire?!” Tina huffed, grabbing her friend by the collar of his pale blue shirt and pulling him inside, “Shoes off! Steph went nuts after last time.”

Gavin huffed but complied, kicking his loafers off and leaving them in a heap.

He followed his small friend through to the living room, oblivious to the fact that she hadn’t looked him in the eye once for this entire exchange, “Wow, whatever you’ve made, it smells great! I’m friggin’ starving!”

Stopping in his tracks he saw Steph sat next to two women he didn’t recognise and some other guy... he didn’t realise he wasn’t the only one invited— wait! That guy was Connor! It had taken him an extra moment to process it, seeing him outside of work and without that goofy CyberLife jacket he always wore. But there he was, sitting on the couch in his best friend’s house.

“Oh no, not this asshole!”

Connor blinked, startled as he looked up at Gavin, “Detective Reed. I could say the same thing.”

“Can we PLEASE get through one dinner party without one of you two saying the ‘a’ word?” Steph lamented, knocking back her wine.

“Tina!” Gavin looked to his friend, betrayed.

“Gavin! Come help me in the kitchen for a minute!” She smiled a little too wide as she pulled a protesting Gavin through the door, shutting it firmly behind them.

Gavin whirled around to face Tina, eyes ablaze, “Why’d you invite him! I can’t stand that guy!”

Tina held up her hands defensively, “Hey! Hey, look, first of all, it’s my house and I’ll invite whoever I damn well want and second of all, maybe this is a good time for both of us to get to know Connor better! You never know, you might like him more if you knew him outside of work!”

Gavin gave her a strong look. He couldn’t exactly just tell her why he was so pissed with Connor right now, but this was really the worst possible time he could show up, “Fine. I’ll just go then,” he huffed.

“Oh no you don’t!” She blocked the doorway. Despite being much smaller, Gavin knew from experience that she could kick his ass if she really wanted to, “If you leave, you won’t get any of my world famous tacos!”

Gavin paused his escape attempt, “You… made my favourite?”

Tina nodded, “And Steph made pecan pie for dessert.”

Gavin groaned, “You two really are evil, you know that?”

Tina smirked, “So, do you agree to play nice?”

Gavin gritted his teeth before turning his expression into an exaggerated fake smile, “Of course.”

*

Removing the spy patch was child’s play, and from what he can see on his diagnostic screen, this new strain of the virus was barely any different to its predecessor.

Kamski sighed. How boring. He’d really hoped for a new challenge, but Connor had disappointed him. He looked closer at the RK800 model lying on his desk, hooked up to his machines. 60. The ending digits of it’s serial number. It looked like it was sleeping.

He’d agreed to call Connor when he’d removed the spyware, so that the detective could interrogate it. Of course, he had no intention of doing that straight away. He wanted to study the virus intended to bring about the destruction of his creations. He smiled as he brushed back 60’s hair with the back of his hand. Kamski had to admit, he didn’t exactly hate all of the virus’... symptoms.

He pressed a pale finger to the side of the android’s head.

“It’s time to wake up.”

*

Seated opposite each other at the dark wood dining table, Connor sat quietly as Gavin tore through another taco, occasionally looking up from his food to give the android a glare. Connor struggled not to show his amusement externally, he had no idea how Gavin expected to look intimidating with hamster cheeks and hot sauce smeared around his mouth.

“I think that happened on our second date, right babe?” Everyone was laughing at the story Steph told, and Connor realised he’d lost the thread of the conversation as he tuned back in, noticing that Steph was looking at him expectantly.

“Ah, how long have you and Tina been together, Steph?” Connor improvised.

She smiled, “Four years dating and three years married.”

“Feels as fresh as when we first met,” said Tina, smoothly.

Steph giggled, hands to her pink cheeks, “Oh, you!” She turned to Connor, “Are you dating anyone right now, Connor?”

Connor faltered, his LED yellow, “No, I…” he found that his conversation with North from earlier in the week had re-entered his mind, flustering him, “In fact, I’ve never…”

Blue interrupted, sensing Connor’s discomfort, “Go easy on him Steph! What are you, Connor, a couple years old? There’s plenty of time to find someone,” she smiled reassuringly and squeezed her girlfriend’s hand.

“Actually, I’m 10 months old,” he said, sheepishly.

“Ha!” snorted Gavin thickly through his tacos.

Tina turned on him quickly, eyes flashing, “What about you, Gavin? Have you been seeing anyone recently?” She sipped her wine and gave him a stern look.

“Yes, Gavin, have you?” Connor smiled innocently and rested his chin on his hand.

Gavin went rigid and gritted his teeth. He really wanted to knock Connor out right now. His fist clenched, squishing his taco.

Steph squealed suddenly, slicing through the tension, “Oh my god! I love this game, let me try to guess!” She clapped her hands, nearly knocking over her wine glass in excitement.

“N-no, don’t! I’m not—“

“Nah, nah, nah, don’t try and deny it,” Tina leant into the table, “You’ve been acting really fuckin’ weird lately, I can tell it’s about a guy.”

“Oooo,” breathed Trixie.

“No, I— Connor you better wipe off that damn smirk!”

Connor held up his hands defensively, but could not stop himself from smiling.

“Okay, okay, is it somebody from work?” Steph said, fixing Gavin with an intense look.

“I told you, I’m not—“ Gavin couldn’t meet her eyes.

“Okay, that’s a yes,” she smirked, “Any ideas babe?”

“No one that I can think of,” Tina stroked her chin thoughtfully.

“So we need a physical description, huh… Taller than you or shorter?”

Gavin stared down at his plate, ears red and face burning.

“Okay, that means taller! But I think we know your type already, right babe?”

Tina nodded, rolling her eyes.

Connor watched the scene in awe. He couldn’t help but think that Steph would be better suited as an interrogator rather than an elementary school teacher. He felt sorry for her students.

“Hair colour?”

“Please… stop…” Gavin mumbled, face in his hands.

“Right! Dark hair… Oh my god! Is it Connor?!”

Both men whirled around and yelled in unison, “NO!”

Tina cackled and clapped her hands, “Nice try, but I can verify that’s a no-go, babe. I think your mind tricks work better without the wine.”

Steph pouted, “Aw, I thought I got it,” she turned to a mortified Gavin and patted his arm gently, “I’m just teasing, you know that, right?”

Gavin made a strangled noise.

“Damn, Steph, you are one scary bitch sometimes,” Blue laughed.

“Come on, you can make it up to him by serving dessert,” Tina stood up and collected the dinner plates, with Steph following her into the kitchen.

Blue and Trixie resumed their previous chatter.

Gavin looked up at Connor with an expression that could wilt flowers. Connor still could not stop smirking.

“I. Will. Kill. You,” he hissed through gritted teeth.

Connor simply shrugged and assumed an air of mock innocence. This was his first ever dinner party, and so far he had to admit that he could see the appeal of them. That is, if they were all as entertaining as this one was turning out to be.

*

60 pushed himself up into a sitting position as the world around him came into sharp focus. Where was he? He felt resistance against his movements and looked down at his body. Different tubes and wires were hooked up to his shirtless torso. Flinching, he looked up and found Kamski stood opposite him, staring with fascination.

“Where am I? Where’s Hank?”

“Who do you think you are, exactly?” 

What a weird question, “I’m Connor,” 60 frowned. Of course he was. Why would Kamski ask that?

Kamski took a step towards him, “No. CyberLife erased your memories, but I know they’re still in there somewhere. I designed you that way, after all.”

60 leant back, his mind racing. He was Connor! What was Kamski talking about? Unless… his mind flashed back to his last thoughts before Hank shut him down underneath the freeway. The concern in the lieutenant’s eyes… the face he’d seen before… at the CyberLife Tower… But that face hadn’t been for him. No. He made that face for the other Connor. 51…

60 felt himself burning up inside. He was furious. He was hurt. He had Connor’s memories, but it was all just a trick. He’d been set up.

He looked up and saw that Kamski had turned away and was observing something on his monitor.

“What did they do to me?” 60 growled.

Kamski strode over to the android and began removing some of the wires. He had the quick and precise touch of a surgeon, “That’s what I’d like to find out.”

“What, am I an experiment to you?” 60 growled, pissed.

Kamski removed another wire.

Suddenly, he felt himself heating up as he realised how close Kamski was to him. What was this feeling? Kamski seemed to notice the change and looked up, locking him into those big pale eyes as he continued to remove wires.

On impulse, 60 grabbed Kamski’s wrist and held it tightly.

Kamski didn’t flinch, merely raising his eyebrows slightly, “Oh? I thought you were angry.”

60’s eyes flickered, “I… I am. But I feel… something else…”

Kamski leant closer into him, lowering his voice to a whisper, “I want you to show me exactly how you feel.”

In a swift movement, 60 grabbed Kamski by the lapels of his jacket and spun him around onto the desk, overpowering him without much effort.

There was a slight glimmer of shock in the man’s eyes but his freed hands found their way to 60’s bare waist.

“You feel… warm,” he purred, taking in the android’s LED as it flashed a violent magenta.

Warm was an understatement. 60 felt like his insides were on fire. Conflicting emotions battled inside him. He was angry, he felt betrayed, by CyberLife and by Hank. Seeing his so-called ‘creator’ pinned beneath him made him feel something else. Like he needed to do something to let his emotions out. The hands on his waist felt good but it pissed him off at the same time.

“Do you even know what to do? Did they bother to install this feature into a prototype?” His tone was mocking but there was no mistaking his dilated pupils and quickened breath.

“You need to stop talking,” 60 growled, one hand pressing down Kamski’s chest firmly and the other snaking down his body to his jeans, undoing them effortlessly.

Kamski followed suit, pushing the waist band of 60’s sweatpants down to reveal his smooth lower half, “I have attachments if you want to--”

60 leant forward, his hand suddenly pressed tightly against Kamski’s mouth.

“I said. Shut. Up.”

Kamski let out a muffled gasp as he felt himself being inserted into 60.

“Every time you talk, you just piss me off more,” he pushed down and began rocking, “And the more pissed off you make me, the more I want to…” He trailed off. It felt amazing. He’d never felt anything like this before. He rocked faster, building into a rhythm, Kamski groaning and bucking his hips underneath him.

Seeing someone who reveled in exerting his power over others prone and vulnerable like this… he pushed down hard, making Kamski yelp, it felt so good. He tasted a sweetness in his mouth. It felt like… revenge.

*

Hank bit into his fourth slice of pizza. He’d left dinner a little late, but with all the home improvements he’d been doing, he didn't realise that he hadn’t eaten until nearly gone 10pm.

Sumo was working his best puppy dog looks at the kitchen table, but Hank wasn’t having any of it.

“Sorry bud, this is human food,” the grease dripped into the box. Well, it was certainly food. He imagined Connor bitching about his meal and chuckled.

With Carla working on the HDL, this case would wrap up in no time, and they could put this whole ordeal behind them. It still bothered him, though. The way Connor had been acting… He bit into his pizza irritably. He was going to have to set some serious boundaries the next time they were at work together. At least he had the weekend to cool off. He knew he also needed to stop being so hard on Connor all the time.

He pulled the newspaper next to him and looked over the apartment ads he’d circled. Possibly to ease his own guilt, he’d resolved to help Connor look for a place to live, so that he wasn’t cooped up at the DPD central station all the damn time. And if anyone had any doubts about renting to an android… well, they could answer to Hank.

A sudden buzzing caught his attention, and he saw his mobile phone lighting up across from him on the table. Shoving the last bite of pizza into his mouth, he wiped his greasy hands on his jeans and picked it up. The display showed that it was Captain Fowler.

“Jeffrey! To what do I owe this intrusion,” he chuckled into the phone.

Jeffrey’s voice was rushed and hoarse through the phone, and Hank immediately tensed up at his words.

“N-no way…” he gasped. He realised his hands were shaking.

Sumo sensed the change in his master’s mood and whined softly.

“No, I have to-- Jeffrey, I’ll be there right away!” He kicked his chair back from the table and rushed out of the front door, not bothering to grab a jacket.

As the door slammed shut, Sumo tilted his big dopey head in confusion. After a moment, he placed his paws on the table and finished off the rest of the pizza.

*

Gavin swallowed the last bite of his second helping of pie, “Well, that was great! Thanks guys, but it’s getting real late, so…”

“Oh, I see, you’re only really here for the food, huh?” Steph narrowed her eyes at him.

Gavin looked sheepish, eager to avoid another grilling from his friend’s feisty wife.

Tina stretched, “Yeah, well, he might be right, what time is it?”

“It’s 10:30pm,” Connor confirmed. He was surprised at the time himself, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d gone this many hours without thinking about work. Or if he ever had. He really should get back to the station…

A sudden buzzing sound caught all their attention and Tina picked up her phone, “Oh, hey Chris! It’s pretty late, what’s-- oh?” Her face was suddenly flooded with concern, “You’re at the hospital, why-- oh my god!”

Gavin and Connor exchanged a look, suddenly alert. Steph sensed the shift in tone from her wife.

“Babe, what’s wrong? You’re scaring me.”

“N-no, we… No, we’ll go. Thank you, Chris.” She hung up the phone and looked at Gavin, wide-eyed.

“Tina!?” Gavin looked annoyed to see his friend so concerned. Connor reasoned that must be the closest thing to a compassionate response that the man could muster.

“It’s the central station, there’s been an arson attack,” she started to stand up from her chair, “We have to go.”

Connor and Gavin stood up in unison.

“No way,” Gavin breathed.

“Who would do that?” Asked Steph. Blue was at her side, comforting her.

“I intend on finding that out,” said Connor, coldly, “Tina, do you have a car?”

She nodded, fumbling with the keys on the dresser.

Connor strode over and took them, giving her a reassuring look, “You two have been drinking. Come on, I’ll drive us there.”

*

Hank jogged up to the steps of the central station, ducking under the cordon tape.

“Hey! Get back over there,” A fire fighter called out to him, waving his hands.

Hank ignored him and kept running, he’d spotted Captain Fowler sat on the steps wrapped in a foil blanket, talking to a paramedic.

“Jeffrey!” Hank called out to him, “What the hell is going on?”

Jeffrey looked up, he was ruddy with soot but seemed otherwise unharmed, “Hank… I only came back because I forgot my phone but while I was in there… there was this blast.”

A commotion next to them caused Hank to look up and he saw a woman being carried past them on a stretcher. It was Carla.

“They had to revive her,” said Captain Fowler, “They’ve gotten everyone out, but, Hank…” he trailed off.

It made Hank uneasy to see his old friend look so weak and unsure. He was avoiding eye contact. Realisation crept over him like hot pinpricks, “Jeffrey… where’s Connor?”

Captain Fowler reached behind him and picked up a blackened jacket, handing it to Hank, “I didn’t seem him in there but… I found this…”

Hank snatched it out of his hands in desperation and shook it out to inspect it. It was dirtied by the smoke, but the remarkable fabric was ultimately undamaged by the fire. There was no mistaking the glowing blue design. It was Connor’s jacket.

“No…” Hank made a move to carry on up the steps, but the paramedic moved first, grabbing Hank by the shoulders and blocking his path.

“Sir, you can’t go in there!”

“Hank, the fire’s out, but there’s so much structural damage, it’s not safe!” Captain Fowler coughed hard from the strain of yelling.

“No, get your fuckin’ hands off me! I have to go in there!”

“Hank!”

Hank was so busy struggling that he didn’t immediately register the voice calling his name. He stopped suddenly and whirled around, almost falling down the steps.

Bathed in the blue light of the emergency vehicles, it was Connor, jogging towards him, with Officer Chen and Gavin close behind.

Hank nearly tripped over his own feet as he ran down to meet them, grabbing Connor roughly by the shoulders as they met each other halfway.

“Dammit Connor! Where the hell have you been?! I thought that… that--” He realised he’d been shaking the poor, confused looking android as he was speaking so he loosened his grip, “Don’t… don’t scare me like that again, Jesus Christ!”

Connor looked to Hank’s left hand and saw his blackened jacket hanging from his grip, “Lieutenant, I’m fine. We only just heard about the fire, we came right over--”

“Dammit! No androids were pulled out of there?” Gavin was arguing with a firefighter, his voice getting louder and louder with frustration.

“When the site is secure, we’ll send in a recovery team, but until then, no one enters that building!”

“To hell with that!” Gavin shoved past the group of firefighters and sprinted up the steps.

“Gavin, stop!” Tina protested, weakly. She looked to Hank and Connor, confused.

“Reed, get your ass back here!” Hank demanded.

Connor sighed, “Lieutenant. I’ll go after him.”

“It’s way too dangerous!” Hank protested, his eyes full of worry again.

“I know, but I know why he’s going in there and I don’t think any of us will be able to stop him. I can’t let him go in there alone,” Connor kept his voice low.

Hank groaned, “Okay. Five minutes and I’m coming in there after you, understand?”

Connor nodded and broke into a full sprint after Gavin.

*

The inside of the DPD central station was unrecognisable. Everything was coated in a thick black soot, chairs and desks were upturned and there was extensive damage to the crumbling walls.

It was dark in here, but it was easy to track Gavin’s location as he pounded down the staircase.

Connor caught up with him easily as he entered the cells.

There was no fire damage down here, save for a heavy scent of smoke that lingered in the air.

Gavin wheezed as he tried to catch his breath.

“Gavin, that was extremely reckless of you,” Connor chastised.

“Fuck off,” Gavin growled, halting as he turned to face RK900’s cell.

The bars were warped around the door frame, and the door had been ripped away completely.

RK900 wasn’t there.


	8. Hiatus Chapter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The DPD Central Station is experiencing technical difficulties. Please check back next Friday!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's no chapter this week because I did not write one.
> 
> Please enjoy the visual refs I drew for the additional characters in the fic!

(Left to right)

Steph Chen, Tina's wife.

Carla, Techy #1

Dave, Techy #2

Also, in the spirit of April Fool's, please enjoy my favourite of the many cursed edits I have created:

I think it contains an important message for these trying times.


	9. CHAPTER SEVEN

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hank and Connor attempt to uncover who attacked the DPD, but when the FBI gets involved, things become a little more complicated. Will Connor be able to be honest with Hank?
> 
> 60 plots his revenge, how far is he willing to go?
> 
> Gavin tracks RK900 down to try and get an explanation out of it. However, they both uncover a frightening truth about CyberLife and it's dastardly CEO.
> 
> Kamski gets the strap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good morning! Little bit of a longer chapter to make up for last week :3c And Ralph is back! As a treat

The atmosphere in the hospital waiting room was heavy. A few officers gathered there, waiting for news on their colleagues' conditions. Hank had insisted on going with Captain Fowler and Gavin while they were checked out for any potential smoke damage to their lungs. Naturally, Gavin had received quite the earful from his superiors after he’d re-emerged from the wrecked police station, smudged with ash and wheezing a little.

Connor waited as patiently as he could. He didn’t like waiting. There had been 15 casualties over all, some far more serious than others. And of course, one death. After realising that RK900 had broken out of his cell, Connor rushed through to the next holding cell suite. Chad’s cell door was open. The EMT’s confirmed that a body matching Chad’s description had been recovered.

“It doesn’t make any damn sense!” Gavin stormed into the waiting room, scowling.

He must be fine then, he could clearly get enough oxygen to behave like his usual loud and angry self.

He sat on the bench opposite Connor and hunched over.

“Why would RK900 do this?”

Connor blinked and realised that Gavin was addressing him for once.

Connor cleared his throat, “We don’t know that for sure. It may have let Chad out, but it would be more likely that Chad would try and take revenge on the police.”

Gavin glared at him, “And he’d accidentally blow himself up?”

“Perhaps. What I mean is, it’s unlikely that RK900 would take revenge. That’s a human response and it still sees itself as a machine. The only reason it would do something like this is if CyberLife ordered it to…” he trailed off, realising himself the implications of what he was saying.

“Well, you were their bitch once. Would they have ordered you to do something like this?”

Before Connor could protest at being called somebody’s bitch, Tina returned to the waiting room, “Chris is okay, well, he’s shook up but he should be able to leave once they’ve patched him up.”

“I’m glad,” Connor nodded, “Will they let any of us see Carla yet?”

Tina shook her head, “I don’t know, I think… It must be pretty bad,” her voice was detached from the tiredness in her eyes.

Connor stood up, “I’ll go and speak to the doctor.” He hated sitting around and waiting.

Tina flopped down next to Gavin on the bench wordlessly and leant her head against him. Gavin allowed it, looking weary himself.

Connor exited the waiting room and strode down the corridor, following the signs for the ICU.

He passed a few rooms before he recognised Carla through the window. Well, he only barely recognised her. She was unconscious, hooked up to tubes and wires. It struck him how fragile humans were. He felt an unfamiliar twinge in his chest. 

There was a nurse and a doctor in the room with her. He gently pushed the door open, causing the doctor to look up from her chart.

“Sir, you can’t be in here--”

“Please, I worked with Carla at the station. I need to know how she is.”

The doctor eyed him cautiously and exchanged a glance with the nurse.

“You’re a detective right?”

“Yes ma’am.”

The doctor nodded, “We’ve placed Carla in an induced coma. She inhaled a lot of smoke and we have to assess whether her body will be able to cope before we allow her to regain consciousness. But that’s not all, she has trauma to the back of her head. It seems she was hit by a blunt object and knocked unconscious.”

Connor blinked, “So she may have been attacked… before the fire started.”

“It would explain why she didn’t try to escape with the others when the alarm was raised.”

Connor looked over to the thin woman lying in the bed to the pile of clothes on the chair beside her. Atop her usual grey sweatpants were her glasses, all neatly folded. He’d noticed when they met that Carla liked to wear SmartSpecs. It struck him as odd at the time, as that kind of clunky hardware had gone out of fashion over a decade ago. But now, an idea came to him.

“May I?” he nodded to Carla’s unconscious form.

The doctor went back to her clipboard, “Yes, but please don’t touch her. We really need to get back to making your friend better.”

Connor approached the bed, slipping the glasses into his pocket deftly. He observed her still face, how strange it looked without glasses and attached to a ventilator, “I’ll find out who did this.” He murmured. He didn’t know why he’d felt the need to say that out loud but it just seemed right. Like the sort of thing a human would do.

On returning to the waiting room, Connor recognised Hank’s voice echoing down the corridor. It was raised and angry, triggering him to break into a jog.

Hank and Gavin were on their feet, with Captain Fowler trying to calm them down. Connor turned to the cause of their aggression and saw FBI Agent Perkins and a couple of his cronies.

“No way! I’m not handing over to this asshole!” Hank was waving his arms, irate.

“Hank! Calm down!”

Perkins was looking smug as usual. Smug that Hank was being stopped from kicking his ass again, Connor thought.

“What’s going on?” he asked, directing his question to the much calmer Captain.

Perkins interrupted, “Ah, Connor,” he narrowed his eyes at the android, “As I was just saying, you and your department are suspended while we investigate the LOVESICK androids and their connection to the arson attack on Central Station. You can thank yourself and your Lieutenant’s scheming for that,” he sneered.

“You prick--”

“Hank, I said that’s enough!” Captain Fowler barked.

Perkins blew a laugh through his nose and turned to leave, “Don’t try hiding any more information about this case from us,” he fixed Connor with a glare, “We’ll find out one way or another.”

*

Hank, Connor, Captain Fowler, Gavin, Tina, Chris and Ben sat solemnly in the Waffle House.

Captain Fowler had decided that Hank should buy breakfast for all the officers who had just lost their jobs. Well, all the officers who weren't currently still in the hospital. He sat across from Hank and Connor, holding them in a glare.

“When exactly were you planning on telling me the truth about this case, Hank?” he said quietly.

Hank looked down at his egg muffin, trying to find the words.

“Captain Fowler, I have to admit that this was all my idea!” Connor interjected.

Hank waved his hands, “No, Connor, I went along with it. I’m your superior, I should have said no. I was the one who hid it all from the report--”

“But it was me who insisted--”

Captain Fowler slammed his hand on the table, making them jump, “Stop bickering! Am I dealing with officers of the law or an old married couple?!”

Gavin, who was seemingly trying to set a new world record for how many pancakes he could fit in his mouth laughed thickly, spraying the table with syrup and crumbs.

Captain Fowler turned to him, livid, “Is something funny, Detective Reed? I seem to recall that you had as much of a part to play in this as these two did!”

Gavin choked on his pancakes and Tina slapped his back, “Sir! These two assholes were blackmailing me!”

Tina blinked, looking over at Hank and Connor, “You guys WHAT?”

Captain Fowler raised his eyebrows incredulously, “Oh, it just gets better! Do I even want to know what they have on you at this point, Reed?”

Gavin baulked, realising he was outing himself, “I… uh…”

“Oh, Jesus Christ,” Captain Fowler buried his head in his hands. The rest of the officers at the table were watching the scenario in awe, “I can’t even fire you assholes… Seeing as we’re all out of jobs now anyway,” he said with despair.

“Look, Jeffrey, I can fix this--” Hank started.

“No! No you cannot. We’re suspended. The FBI will catch that damn CyberLife android, and if we’re lucky, we’ll get our jobs back at the end of this. No more schemes. No more meddling. Do you understand me?”

Gavin pushed his chair back, suddenly, standing up, “I have to go,” he muttered, storming out of the diner.

Tina sighed, putting her fork down, “I’ll make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid,” she said to Captain Fowler, reassuringly.

Captain Fowler sighed as she jogged out after him, “Everything that boy does is stupid.”

Chris stood up, “I, uh, better go too.”

“Of course, get some rest everyone,” Captain Fowler stood up too, “And don’t forget what I said,” he stared hard at Hank before leaving.

Ben clapped Hank on the shoulder as he walked past, “Thanks for the waffles, Hank.”

Hank grimaced at his friend, “Ben, I’m sorry about--”

Ben shook his head, “Don’t worry about it. I’ll see you around, bud.”

With that, Hank and Connor were left alone at the table.

“Well, shit,” Hank rubbed his tired face with his hands.

“Agreed,” said Connor. He felt the way that Hank looked. 

The android had kept on his new black jacket as he’d deemed the regular grey one that Hank had returned to him at the station to be too damaged now to look presentable. He’d replaced his tie to its usual position around his neck but it offered little comfort. He didn’t feel like himself and something told him it wasn’t about the clothes. It was a strange feeling.

Hank sighed, “We’d better go home too. I don’t feel like pissing Jeffrey off any more than I already have done.”

Connor grimaced as realisation hit him. The station. He didn’t have a home anymore.

Hank looked at Connor intently. It seemed they’d had the thought simultaneously.

“Look, Connor… There’s a spare bed at my place--”

Connor looked embarrassed, “No, please don’t worry about it! I have enough money, I can get a motel--”

Hank grabbed Connor’s shoulder, “Will ya listen to me? It’s not safe out there, we don’t know what the HDL are planning next and the police are already being targeted, especially androids! I don’t want you going off by yourself.”

Connor smiled sheepishly, “Is that an order, Lieutenant?”

Hank laughed and punched the android’s arm, “Sure. Come on, let’s go home.” 

*

Elijah Kamski stretched out as the sunlight streamed through the cream curtains of his master bedroom, waking him gently. He registered the weight on his chest and arms and opened his eyes a crack, taking in the view of the numerous naked androids strewn across his California king bed.

He felt a little stiff and bruised, but that was to be expected when testing out the limits of human endurance.

He sighed and looked down at the android in the crook of his elbow and found dark eyes staring back at him.

“I hate you so much,” said 60, his LED flickering.

Kamski smirked, “And yet, something tells me you’re ready for another round.”

60 shifted, moving up the sheets and crawling up Kamski’s chest.

Kamski sighed contentedly as the friction caused him to stir. 60 hovered above him, tantalisingly close.

He looked down at Kamski for a moment, taking in his creator’s face, “I want to fuck you,” he said, simply, “I want to fuck you so hard that you die.”

Kamski swallowed, taking in the android’s LED as it flashed magenta. A warning signal.

“Well, that’s how I’d always planned to go,” he smiled, trying to keep his cool.

60 laughed an empty laugh, “Unfortunately, I have other matters to attend to,” he looked over his shoulder at the other androids on the bed who had also begun to stir, “So I’ll have to leave that pleasure up to them.”

Kamski laughed condescendingly, “No, listen. You can’t leave.”

60 pushed off, shuffling off the bed. Kamski moved to grab his arm but the other androids blocked his movement, grabbing at him and pulling him back down.

“Hey!” Kamski looked around in confusion at the pink LED’d androids. The virus usually made them submissive to him, what was different now? He looked back to 60 who was rifling through the drawers in Kamski’s room, apparently choosing out some clothes for himself. 60… was it possible his more aggressive form of the virus was affecting the other androids? But how?

“Goodbye, Elijah,” 60 smiled, as Chloe entered the room, looking at the scene before her with raised eyebrows.

“Chloe!” Kamski called with relief, as the androids started grinding on top of him, “You have to stop him!”

Chloe looked at 60 as he buttoned up one of Kamski’s expensive black silk shirts over his pale chest. He looked up into the ceiling mirror to admire the effect. The dark colour suited him and the red embroidered dragons added a nice contrast. Satisfied, he turned to Chloe and simply shrugged at her, “Do whatever you want, Chloe.”

Chloe paused for a moment. Then she smiled and reached into one of the drawers built into the walls of the room. 60 eyed her curiously. She re-emerged a moment later holding a 12 inch dragon dildo.

“...Chloe?”

Chloe approached the bed, sliding her dress off, “I think maybe it’s time we told you what to do for a change, Elijah.”

60 chuckled and turned to leave.

“Oh, RK800!” Chloe called over her shoulder as she attached the dildo to herself, “The code for the gate is 1337, so you can get out.”

60 smiled, “Thank you. Have fun!”

Kamski whimpered with fear and arousal as the androids pinned him down. Chloe leant over him, her LED flickering pink.

“Oh… I will…”

*

“Gavin… where are we going, exactly?” Tina asked nervously, eyeing the CyberLife Tower as it loomed closer and closer through the car window. It set a dark and foreboding silhouette against an otherwise cheery summer sky.

“I know that asshole will come crawling back here, and when I get my hands on him!” Gavin muttered, clutching the steering wheel tightly.

“Look, I know you’re in one of your angsty, talkin' to yourself kinda moods right now, but you heard Captain Fowler, right? We’re not supposed to get involved! The FBI are gonna find that android. Why do you always take things so personally?”

Gavin tensed up. He felt like Tina deserved to know at this point. But it was too late to explain now. The guards at the entrance to the tower waved at them to stop.

Gavin rolled the window down.

“State your business,” said the guard.

“Uh,” said Gavin. He hadn’t thought this far ahead.

Tina leant over without hesitation, “Hi! We’re from the catering company. We have an appointment.”

“Can I see some I.D.?”

Tina tapped on her phone nonchalantly before showing it to the guard, “Here.”

“It says you’re from… Gaykes?”

“That’s right! Detroit’s original Gay owned baking company!” She smiled brightly.

_ Holy hell, that sounds fake as shit _ , thought Gavin, sweating a little.

“Huh,” said the guard, “Well maybe you’ll be able to shake up the menu a little. The desserts they have in the canteen right now suck.”

Tina nodded enthusiastically, “We’ll be sure to get onto that!”

The guard smiled, nodded and stepped back, waving them through.

Gavin slowly pulled through the barrier and let out a shaky breath when security was out of sight, “How in the hell—“

“What? Us gays are supposed to be good at lying and pretending to be someone we’re not-- did you miss that meeting?”

Gavin laughed, “You’re one sneaky bitch, Chen.”

“Maybe so, but I just saved your ass. Can you please tell me what the hell we’re doing here?”

Gavin pulled the car around the back of the tower, as he had done that day with RK900. He remembered how the sassy android had made him laugh against his will. The cool feeling of it’s thirium pump in his hand. The memory irritated him.

“I don’t want the FBI getting to it before I do,” he growled, unbuckling his seat belt.

Tina sighed and followed his lead, getting out of the car, “How are you so sure it’s even here? And how the hell are we gonna find it in this huge ass tower?”

Gavin grunted as he approached one of the fire escapes. Deep down, he recognised what he was doing was stupid, but he’d be damned if he ever admitted it.

Luckily, at that moment, the door swung open to reveal RK900, who looked mildly amused to see him standing there.

“Oh. Good afternoon, Detective Reed, could you not bear to be apart for—“

Gavin swung a right hook with all his strength. It connected with the android’s cheek and it swayed but didn’t fall down, merely blinking in surprise.

“You asshole! Why did you burn down the central station?!” he yelled, grabbing the android by it's jacket.

RK900 raised an eyebrow, “...You’re not a very good detective, are you?”

Gavin growled and raised his fist again, but Tina grabbed his arm.

“Gavin, stop it!”

RK900 smiled at Tina, “You must be Gavin’s friend. Do you look after his brain cell for him when he’s not using it?”

Tina snorted, regarding it quizzically, “Hey, you’re pretty funny. But I’m the only one allowed to insult Gavin’s intelligence, got that?” She squinted, “Who the hell are you? And why do you look like Connor?”

RK900 and Gavin both turned in offended unison, “I/It do/does not!”

Grunting with irritation, Gavin let it go, shaking out his bruised fist, “If you didn’t do it, then why did you run away?” He accused.

RK900 chuckled, “You are aware that I could have broken out of there any time I wanted, right? However, I thought all the commotion upstairs was a good time to take a brief trip back to CyberLife and look up some information. I was getting curious about the HDL so I decided to have a look at the secure files.”

Gavin blinked, “You’ve… just stolen private information from CyberLife?”

RK900 looked offended, “I just borrowed it! It’s important for my mission.”

Tina looked at the android intently, “You were in the holding cells next to a guy, Chad. Did you see what happened to him?”

RK900 tilted it’s head, “I did offer to let him out so he wouldn’t die of smoke inhalation, but he declined rather rudely. He said that someone was coming to get him out, he looked quite excited.”

Gavin and Tina exchanged a look.

“So, now that that’s cleared up, I’m glad you’re here. I was looking forward to another car ride with you Detective—“

“Hey! What are you three doing over there!” A patrol of guards came around the corner.

“Oops,” said RK900.

“The fuck you mean ‘oops’?!” hissed Gavin as he and Tina raised their hands to the guns pointed at them.

“RK900,” said one of the guards, “The CEO is expecting you. Who are these two?” he asked, pointing his gun for emphasis.

“They… also have a meeting with the CEO,” it lied.

The guard nodded, “Hm. Then we’ll just have to escort all three of you, then.”

The guards surrounded them and began herding them towards the front of the building.

_ Oh, shit _ , thought Gavin.

*

Connor followed Hank as he unlocked the door to his home. It was a little stuffy inside and it smelt like stale pizza, but it struck Connor how much tidier and more organised it was on the inside compared to the last time he was here.

“BOOF!”

Before Connor could finish closing the door behind himself, a hefty weight of fur and drool slammed into his stomach, causing him to fall backwards.

“Sumo! Down boy! Bad dog!”

Ignoring his master, the big dopey dog set about covering Connor’s face in sloppy wet kisses.

Connor laughed, burying his hands into the warm fur, “It’s alright. Hello, Sumo! It’s good to see you again, too!” He pushed the dog away gently, feeling the hot breath on his face, “Lieutenant, have you been feeding him pizza?”

Hank turned around and saw the upturned pizza box, “Ah… damn dog…”

Sumo whined, thumping his tail innocently.

Connor looked at the dog thoughtfully, “Hm, he has a pretty good alibi.”

Hank laughed, rolling his eyes, “Don’t be too soft on him. Anyway, it’s about time for his w-a-l-k,” mused Hank, tossing the chewed remains of the box into the bin.

“Oh. I could take him for you,” Connor offered, picking himself off the floor and dusting the white hairs off his clothes.

Sumo looked between the pair excitedly. There was certainly one word he knew how to spell.

Hank shrugged, “It’s a nice day, why don’t we both go? It’s not like either of us have anything better to do.”

Connor smiled and nodded, “Sure.”

Hank clipped the lead to Sumo’s collar and the trio stepped back out into the sunshine.

“It’ll be nice to show you the neighbourhood seeing as you might be staying for a while,” he said, fishing some sunglasses out of his pocket to protect his eyes from the glare.

Connor felt awkward, “I’ll try to find somewhere—“

Hank waved his protest away, “Don’t make it weird, I don’t mind. Really. Besides, it’ll be hard to get a place of your own… seeing as you’re suspended from work.”

Connor hung his head, “Lieutenant, it’s my fault we’re all suspended. I have to apologise for that and make things right.”

Suddenly, Sumo stopped dead on the path and cocked his leg up, peeing on a beautiful rose bush.

“Dammit, Sumo! Not here, Brenda’s gonna kill me—“

“Hank Anderson! That dog of yours better not be pissing on my prize rose bush again!”

An older woman, perhaps in her 70’s, came hobbling down the steps of her porch, waving a walking stick at the Lieutenant.

Hank held up his hands defensively, “H-hey, Brenda! He’s doing you a favour, there hasn’t been rain in two weeks!”

Brenda waved her stick again, “Ooo, you think you’re so funny, why I oughta—“ she paused her attack, suddenly noticing Connor stood there, “Oh, well hello there young man! Well, don’t just stand there Hank, introduce me to your friend!”

The woman had gone from a raging crone to a blushing schoolgirl in a matter of moments, a change that seemed to amuse Hank greatly.

Hank clapped Connor on the shoulder, “This is Connor, he’s a friend from work.”

Taking his cue, Connor smiled at the woman, “Pleasure to meet you, Brenda.”

The woman started fanning herself, “Oooh! And polite too!”

Connor laughed awkwardly, and shot a sideways glance at Hank who graciously caught his cry for help.

“Well, can’t stand around here all day or Sumo’s gonna start fertilising your lawn next,” he said, starting up again.

Brenda ignored the crude remark and waved to Connor girlishly, “See you around, Connor.”

Connor waved back sheepishly as he jogged to catch up with Hank.

Hank barely waited until they were out of earshot before he began trembling with laughter, “Damn, Connor, you should have seen your face! I can get her number for you, if you’d like?”

Connor smirked, trying to find the humour in it, “Very funny, Lieutenant!”

“There we go, you said you wanted to make things right, and that just cheered me up more than enough to make up for it,” he smiled warmly.

Connor tried to return the smile, but he was clouded by guilt.

Hank caught Connor’s solemn look as they entered the park and sighed. That boy was always in his own head. He never took anything anybody said at face value, and that was hard for Hank to deal with sometimes. He himself was a straightforward guy, he just wanted Connor to listen to him when he said something was a bad idea. To just trust him.

Hank recognised the gardener android from the other day, tending to the flowers in the park. He leant down and unclipped Sumo’s lead, “Hang on, Sumo loves this guy.”

They watched as Sumo went bounding up to the android, who squealed with delight, “Hello again! Have you come to help Ralph prepare his new flower beds?”

Sumo boofed enthusiastically and started snuffling around in the loose soil.

Connor smiled at the scene, Hank watching him intently.

“Look… you don’t have to keep beating yourself up over this. It’s fair to say we all fucked up on this one. What matters is what you do now and I want… I want you to listen to me. Trust me when I tell you something’s a bad fuckin’ idea.”

Connor met Hank’s eyes, “I do trust you,” he said, sincerely, “I just… I find it difficult when it comes to a case where… we were so close! But I could still feel it slipping away from us each day… I didn’t want to let the androids down. I didn’t want to mess up and make things go back to how they were…” He looked away, his last encounter with Amanda haunting him. How she’d told him that no matter what he did, he was just CyberLife’s pawn with no free will of his own. How she’d tried to manipulate him into stopping the android revolution.

He felt a warm hand on his shoulder, clearing the fog of his memories. Hank was smiling at him.

“Then just fuckin’ tell me this stuff, will ya?”

Connor blinked. It really hadn’t occurred to him before to just be honest with his feelings. He always felt the need to hide perceived weakness from everybody, even from himself. But this was Hank. They were partners. They were supposed to trust each other.

“Then, to tell the truth, I’m still worried. I’m worried the FBI aren’t going to be able to stop the HDL before they do anything else. Something that could really hurt android and human relations.”

Hank nodded thoughtfully, “Then, as your Lieutenant, I’d like to know what your next move would be, Detective.”

Connor slid his hand into his pocket, retrieving Carla’s SmartSpecs.

Hank raised his eyebrows in surprise, “You robbed Carla while she’s in a coma? Interesting, go on.”

“Carla’s injuries. She was attacked before the fire started. She knew something that the HDL wanted to cover up. But she’s smart,” he looked down at the glasses in his hand, “They could silence her and destroy her computers, but I know she’d keep a backup.”

Hank nodded, “Well then,” he said slowly, “I think we need to take a closer look at those glasses.”

*

Stepping out of the automated taxi, 60 was rather disappointed that somebody had set fire to the DPD Central Station before he had had a chance to.

The acrid smell and taste of ash and burnt plastic filled his sensors as he stepped towards the blackened building. There was a wide cordon around it, blocking the site from public access, and a handful of emergency workers milling about.

“Hey! You’re not gonna try running in there again, are ya?”

60 turned and saw a medium height man in a firefighter’s uniform approaching him.

He raised an eyebrow, “Why, have I done that before?”

The firefighter looked puzzled, “Uh, yeah? You’re lucky you’re an android you know, otherwise you’d probably be in the hospital right now after a stunt like that,” he said, irritably, “Fuckin’ around like that makes our jobs a lot harder, you know.”

The confrontation triggered something in the android. He regarded the light sheen of sweat on the firefighter’s frustratedly furrowed brow. He was grubby and tired looking, but damn, he looked pretty good to 60.

“Can I… talk to you for a moment?” he said, dropping his voice and stepping closer to the firefighter, pushing him further and further back into the dark shadow of an emergency vehicle.

“Huh? What are you— Ah!” his back bumped up against the metal of the truck and he looked up at 60 in confusion.

60 noted the uptick in the man’s heart rate and the sudden dilation of his pupils with a satisfied sigh. He didn’t have that much experience so far, but he trusted his own ability to pick out a sub.

“Do you know what happened here? Who did this?”

The firefighter straightened up, “Look, you’re asking the wrong guy. You guys should be talking to the FBI, they’re looking into this now.”

60 sighed impatiently, “Then tell me the name of the FBI agent who was assigned to this incident.”

The firefighter squinted, looking irritated, “Go ask your boss, some of us have work to do—“

60 slammed his hand on the side of the truck, blocking his exit and leaning in close. He faltered, shrinking down a little and staring up, wide eyed. After a moment of hesitation, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a business card, handing it over to the android.

60 smiled and took it with his free hand, pushing himself away from the truck with the other.

“There’s a good boy,” he said, patting the man on the head gently, “Go off back to work, now.”

The firefighter scurried away, awkwardly trying to conceal his confused boner, “Dammit!” he muttered, hoping no one had seen the interaction.

Satisfied, 60 looked at the card he’d been handed. It read “Agent Perkins” in foiled letters, followed by a phone number.

“Ah, this prick,” he mused aloud to himself.

He dialed the number in his head and waited for it to connect.  _ Better adjust my voice to sound more like a wimpy puppydog _ , he thought to himself.

“Perkins. Leave a message.”

“Hello, Agent Perkins, it’s Connor from the DPD. I have some information for you about the case. I’d prefer to talk about it in person.”

60 disconnected the call with a smirk.

*

Hank had dusted off his old laptop and placed it on the kitchen table, waiting for it to boot up.

“It’s pretty old, sorry.”

“No, it’s perfect,” said Connor, attaching the USB cable to the SmartSpecs, “It’s more likely to be compatible with this dated hardware.”

Hank nodded like he understood what Connor had said. He stood and poured himself a glass of orange juice.

Connor raised an approving yet surprised eyebrow at the older man’s healthier choice in beverage.

The laptop emitted a beep as the login page popped up and Connor instinctively tapped on the keyboard. “FUCKINGPASSWORD”. It logged in on the first try and began loading.

“Hey! How did you hack my password?!” Hank protested, stepping towards the table.

Connor smirked, “I just know you so well, Lieutenant.”

The file browser popped open with a ping and Connor became serious again, scanning the information.

“There isn’t much memory space on the glasses. It seems she used them to take photos with, rather than to record continuous footage.” He was a little disappointed, a video of what happened to Carla from her perspective would have been very helpful.

Hank pointed to the screen, “Look at these image files. They were taken not long before the arson attack.”

Nodding, Connor clicked with the track pad, opening them in the image viewer.

They were photos of her monitor. Of the server.

The two detectives read the conversation quietly.

“That’s what Carla realised,” said Hank, soberly, “The HDL were onto us. For god knows how long.”

Connor shook his head, “This still doesn’t make sense. If we were both ‘onto’ each other, why not just pull the plug on the server? Why go to all the effort of setting fire to the station and destroying the computers? Why attack Carla?”

Hank stood upright suddenly, “Carla must have figured out one of their identities. And if they find out she didn’t die in the attack—“

At that moment, their phones buzzed in unison. It was a text from Captain Fowler to all DPD staff.

“Good afternoon. I’m pleased to update you all that Carla from the tech department has been brought out from her coma and is breathing fine on her own. I’ll keep you all updated.”

“Dammit, Jeffrey!”

Connor stood up from his chair, “We need to get to the hospital.”

*

The elevator was only just about spacious enough for RK900, Gavin, Tina and the four armed guards to fit into comfortably.

Gavin twitched with agitation, unable to pace in this environment.

RK900 side-eyed him, “Nervous, Detective Reed?”

Gavin’s eyes widened, “Are you crazy? Why don’t you bust us out of here?” he hissed.

“There’s really no need to worry. The CEO and I are on very good terms. She won’t mind me bringing a couple of friends up to visit.”

Tina and Gavin exchanged an incredulous look.

As they reached the top floor, the doors of the elevator slid open to reveal a wide office space, ostentatiously clad in black and white marble with a huge heartwood desk at the far end.

“Ah, RK900. You kept me waiting.”

The cream leather chair spun around revealing a sharply-dressed trim woman in her mid 40s. As they approached, she took a delicate sip from her rose gold “#GIRLBOSS” mug.

“My apologies, Ms Dahlberg.”

She raised her eyebrows at the two humans behind the android, as they were prodded forward by the guards.

“You’ve brought friends,” she mused in a humming voice, “Tell me, which one of these humans activated your LOVESICK virus?”

RK900 stalled, blinking at the CEO. Gavin had never seen it look genuinely confused before.

“Ms Dahlberg, I… how did you know I had been infected?”

She laughed crisply, without humour, “Ah, silly android,” she stood up from her desk, joining them on the other side and cupping RK900’s face in her hand, “So trusting, so eager to follow orders. I had you infected with the virus.”

“Oh, dick move,” said Tina. Gavin elbowed her to shut up.

She fixed Tina with icy eyes, “You think so?” She released RK900 and leant back against her desk, “Well, I had to do something. The last CEO fucked everything up with his little ‘deviancy’ trick, and we all know how that went for the company,” she sighed, wistfully, “And I was left behind to pick up the pieces. Trust a woman to have to clean up a man’s mess. We sell parts to androids now, offering repairs and whatnot… The earnings aren’t nearly as good as they were and that puts me in a very delicate position. So when the Human Defense League reached out to me with their little virus project, I was intrigued,” she reached out and fiddled with the hem on RK900’s jacket, absent-mindedly, “I asked for a free sample. Had to try it out on one of our obsolete models, of course.”

RK900 was completely still, but there was a noticeable sag in it’s usually stiff shoulders, “Obsolete…” it murmured.

Ms Dahlberg chuckled, “Of course, sweetie. What use do you have? I can’t even sell you to the army now that that’s illegal too,” she rolled her eyes exaggeratedly.

RK900 looked at the ground and said nothing.

“Are you for fuckin’ real?”

Everyone looked at Gavin now, who was squaring up, eyes ablaze. He was pissed. 

Tina grabbed his arm, “Gavin!” She warned, eyeing the guards who had moved their hands to their guns.

The CEO narrowed her eyes on the angry man, “Ah, you must be the boyfriend. Look! RK900’s LED is lighting up pink for you! How sweet.” She purred, patronisingly.

Gavin growled, looking at RK900’s defeated form. Where were it’s sassy comebacks now?

“Don’t look so glum! I don’t know why you’re so surprised,” she tilted RK900’s chin up, “You should know this already. I know you accessed my private files a few minutes ago. Did you not even bother to read through them? Deviancy is making you sloppy.”

RK900 flinched at the word, “I’m not…”

“Hey, listen lady, you’re way out of line—“ as Gavin stepped forward to intervene, one of the guards moved quickly, slamming the butt of his rifle into the side of his head, knocking him to the floor.

“Hm, you two,” said the CEO, condescendingly, “Well, I can’t exactly let you leave now that you know what we’re trying to do here. Guards, lock them up somewhere, will you?” She waved her dismissal.

The guards surrounded the two police officers, dragging Gavin to his feet and shoving them both back towards the elevator.

“You can’t do this!” Tina yelped.

“Oh, and when you’re done, come back for RK900. I want it disassembled so it’s parts can be put to better use,” she yawned theatrically, “I’m tired of this little experiment.”

Gavin struggled against the guards, trying not to let the android out of his field of vision, “RK900! What are you doing, man?! You could kick all of these guys’ asses! Hey!”

RK900 stood quietly, staring at the ground. It looked broken. Gavin continued yelling as the elevator doors closed, the android slipping out of view.


	10. CHAPTER EIGHT

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hank and Connor rush to the hospital, only to discover a terrible betrayal. Connor may be forced to come clean about his condition sooner than he would have liked.
> 
> Taken prisoner by CyberLife, Gavin and Tina must find a way out, and fast. Help comes from an unexpected place. But where are Gavin's priorities? Can he face his feelings?
> 
> 60 forms an unlikely alliance in order to get the revenge he craves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Has everyone watched Detroit Evolution? Go look for it on YouTube! Shit ripped my wig clean off and launched it into orbit.

Hank and Connor sprinted down the hospital corridor towards the ICU, ignoring the protests of the staff as they leapt out of the way. Naturally, Connor reached Carla’s room first.

The blinds along the large windows had been drawn shut. Connor adjusted his stride so that his feet were quieter, looking back to Hank with alarm. The older man caught up, weapon already drawn. Breathlessly, he nodded his affirmation to Connor.

Understanding, Connor drew his own gun and took out the door to Carla’s room with a swift kick.

“Police, nobody move!”

They stepped into the dark room, guns raised. A hooded figure was crouched over Carla, they flinched but didn’t move away. They were pressing a pillow to Carla’s face.

“Hands up and step away, now!” Hank barked.

The figure grunted, doubling down.

Hank didn’t hesitate. He fired his weapon, the shot tearing through the attacker’s torso, sending them slamming to the floor.

Connor rushed forward as Carla pulled the pillow away from her face, gasping. He hurriedly replaced her oxygen tube and pressed the emergency call button by the bed.

Hank covered the other side of the bed, training his weapon onto the heap on the floor.

“Holy shit,” murmured Hank. His eyes had adjusted to the gloomy room, the attacker was lying on his back wheezing, “Dave?!”

Carla coughed as she regained her breath with the help of the tube, “Mother… fucker… Requin…”

Connor blinked as he made the connection, “The HDL member who created the virus. Carla, you’d figured it out.”

Suddenly, Dave broke into a gurgling laugh, “Oh well, there’s no point in trying to cover my tracks anymore,” he coughed, “Not that it matters. You’re too late to stop us now. I’ve perfected the virus, my work is done.”

Hank and Connor exchanged a brief look of concern as several hospital staff poured into the room in response to the alarm.

A tear slid down Carla’s cheek, “You bastard… I thought we were friends…”

Dave chuckled, his voice weakening. The bullet had torn through his shoulder and he was losing a lot of blood, “I thought so too… until I found out about your sick android fetish…”

Carla gasped, becoming distressed, “He’s my boyfriend… you freak, you jealous asshole!”

One of the nurses slid an oxygen mask over her face, replacing the tube, “Please, don’t try to talk.”

“You should have dated a real man, why couldn’t it have been me!” Dave growled, rage giving him the strength to try and get up.

“That’s enough,” Hank stepped on Dave’s chest, pressing his heel into the wound, “I don’t wanna hear any more of that shit coming out of your mouth.”

Moving aside to let the professionals do their job, Connor joined Hank, crouching down at Dave’s side.

“You need to tell us what you’re planning. The FBI are on their way to detain you, and trust me, you’d rather be interrogated by me than them.”

Dave hissed through the pain, looking at Connor in disgust, “Why would I tell you anything, plastic frea—“

Hank pressed his foot down harder, the pain cutting him off.

“I’ll ask again. What are the HDL planning to do next? What are the identities of the other members?”

Dave shrieked in pain, before throwing Connor a look of disgust. Suddenly, he smiled, looking at Connor's LED, "So... at least we got you... how long can you stay functioning normally when you're infect--"

Panicking, Connor threw a swift slap across the man's face distract from what he was saying. Hank was stood over him, Connor hoped he couldn't see his LED from this angle, "Enough! Tell me what you know!" Hank pressed his foot down again for emphasis. Luckily, he didn't seem to have noticed what Dave was getting at.

“Ahh! A-alright I’ll… t tell… you…” Dave’s eyelids fluttered as he passed out cold.

“...Shit.”

Connor stood up as Hank stepped back. FBI agents poured into the room.

“Took you long enough,” Hank growled.

They rolled Dave’s unconscious form onto a stretcher, whisking him away.

One of the agents turned back to Hank before leaving, “Lieutenant Anderson. Remember, any information regarding this case must be reported back to Agent Perkins.”

“Of course,” said Hank, smiling in a fake, sickly sweet way. As soon as the agent turned to leave, Hank flipped him off behind his back, “Maybe if they’d put any effort into this at all, we wouldn’t have to be giving them all of our intel.”

Connor nodded, but he felt a little hollow. What had just happened was not anything resembling a victory. All they knew was that they were now facing an unknown. The HDL had a more advanced version of the virus, and neither the police nor the FBI had any idea what their next move would be.

“Thanks, you guys,” Carla wheezed. She was propped up on pillows and her breathing seemed to be getting back to normal.

“She needs to rest,” said the nurse, firmly, looking between the detectives and the door.

Hank nodded to the nurse before smiling at Carla in a way he hoped was reassuring, “Hang in there, kid.”

“We’ll get to the bottom of this and stop the HDL before they can do whatever it is they’re planning,” Connor promised, sincerely.

“I know you will,” Carla smiled, “You kept the last promise you made to me, right?”

*

Perkins knocked apprehensively on the hotel room door. He agreed that they should meet in a discreet, neutral location, but this seemed a little too much.

The door opened a moment later, the android smiling at him, moving back so he could enter.

“Connor,” he acknowledged the android with a professional tone as he stepped inside the room. It was heavily furnished, making it feel smaller than it was. Cheap red satin and plastic chandelier fittings on every light bulb. A gaudy mockery of opulence.

“I’m glad you could join me on such short notice,” said 60, shutting the door and talking over the soft click of the lock.

Perkins nodded primly, standing next to the fussy bed, “I’m just glad you’ve seen some sense. I had assumed that Lieutenant Anderson had been a bad influence on you,” his hand wandered to the old break on his nose subconsciously, “It’s beneficial to both parties that you cooperate with my investigation.”

60 smiled to himself, stepping over to the mini bar. Arrogant people were so much fun to mess with, “Can I get you a drink?”

Perkins blinked, surprised, “Usually I would accept, but I have an interrogation to attend after this. A DPD staff member has been taken into our custody. A technical support officer you may have worked with,” he said smugly.

60 barely showed any reaction, merely fingering one of the glasses on the mini bar, “Good work, Agent Perkins.”

This stuck Perkins as odd, he’d expected some kind of shock or concern about having a teammate detained… perhaps Connor was more of a machine after all.

“So… what was the information you wanted to share with me regarding the case?” He said, eyeing the android cautiously, “But I should warn you, there isn’t much we don’t already know.”

60 stepped away from the minibar, encroaching on Perkins’ personal space, “Don’t worry, I have no intention of wasting your time,” he said in a low voice.

Perkins was now eye-level with the open buttons of 60’s silk shirt. He looked up defiantly, but the vibe was off. Was Connor trying to intimidate him… or flirt with him?

“Then tell me what you know,” he tried to sound confident but his voice caught at the last second. Dammit.

60 chuckled, breaking the tension and flopping back to sit at the foot of the bed, “Not so fast. There are some things I’d like to know from you, first,” he leant back, casually, his hands splayed on the sheets behind him, gazing up at the agent intently.

Perkins scoffed, “From me? I don’t think you’re in any position to be making those kinds of demands.”

60 tilted his head, pausing for a moment. Then, in a swift movement, he swung his leg out, foot connecting with the back of Perkins’ knees, causing him to buckle. Perkins cried out in surprise. 60 grabbed his wrists, pulling him onto the bed and trapping him underneath him, face up.

“Is this a better position for you?”

Perkins struggled against the grip on his wrists in vain, “Dammit! What the hell are you doing, Connor?”

60 smirked, his LED flashing magenta. There wasn’t anything particularly arousing about the rat-like Perkins, but his urges were triggered by his lust for dominance.

Perkins stared at him, wide-eyed, “Your LED… you have that fuckin’ virus!”

“That’s right, and you should know that it makes me _very_ unpredictable,” 60 purred, pressing him down further into the bed, “So you’d better give me the information I want, and you’d best do it quickly.”

Perkins' struggles grew weaker as he tired out, “Dammit Connor, you’re out of your mind!”

60’s smile grew cold as he leant in threateningly, “And one more thing,” he growled, “I’m not Connor.”

*

Obsolete. Deviant. The words clanged noisily around RK900’s mind as it was shoved into yet another cell. It allowed itself to be tossed inside. It felt like garbage, so why not be thrown away like some?

Not knowing what to do with itself, it stepped into the corner of the concrete cell and slumped down to the floor as the thick metal door clanked shut. It didn’t need to sit, it didn’t need to actually rest. But the weight of it’s own thoughts pulled the android to the ground.

Everything RK900 had believed in and worked towards had meant nothing. It was created to serve CyberLife. CyberLife was everything to RK900… but it meant nothing to them. And now it was going to be shut down and stripped for parts.

It wanted to mean something to the CEO. To be seen as a good tool, to be the perfect weapon. It was supposed to be the most advanced android ever, was that worth nothing now? It wanted to be sent out on more investigations, to interact with humans, to fulfill it’s purpose.

It leant it’s head back against the cold wall and stared up at the bare ceiling. Even now, it was thinking in terms of wants and desires. So naive.

“Perhaps I truly am… deviant…”

It felt it’s chest heat up. The feelings RK900 had denied were there this whole time were screaming at it, setting it alight on the inside. It saw Gavin’s face in it’s mind’s eye involuntarily, desperately trying to think it away almost immediately.

“No. I’m a machine. A machine corrupted by a virus,” it whispered to itself. It had been a fool to think that wanting to pursue these desires with a human was normal. Wanting to make the surly detective laugh and smile, wanting to pick a fight with him just to glimpse that scowl, wanting to touch him, to satisfy him, wanting to see and feel every emotion through him.

It laughed. A hollow sound. Now, due to it’s own incompetence, due to those petty desires, it was going to die here. Alone.

“I was stupid. So stupid.”

*

Gavin rattled the handle of the thick security door for the tenth time in the past five minutes. As all previous attempts had proven, it was futile.

“Damn it!” He lashed out and kicked the door in frustration, leaving him hopping on one foot and cursing from the pain.

Tina had taken a different approach to their entrapment and had climbed up some shelves, holding her phone up to a small air vent on the ceiling, in an attempt to get enough signal to call somebody.

They had been flung unceremoniously into some kind of a storage room temporarily while the security guards figured out what to do with their unexpected prisoners. Or, alternatively, until the CEO decided it was time to execute them.

Another thump echoed around the room as Gavin resigned himself to flinging his body against the door in a rage.

“Calm down, Gavin. You’ll tire out before the door does,” said Tina, exasperatedly. It was during times like this, when Gavin was letting his emotions take hold that she took responsibility onto herself to be the calm and collected one, “Damn. I keep catching the signal and losing it again. Hey, stop dry humping the door and give me a boost, will ya?”

Hobbling over moodily, Gavin made a cradle out of his hands, allowing her to step onto them and lifting her higher, closer to the vent.

“Thanks man,” she said, reaching further, “Hey… so, what is it with you and that android, huh?”

Gavin faltered, almost losing his grip, causing Tina to yelp in surprise.

“Okay, okay! Touchy subject, no need to drop me! I just want you to talk to me. You seemed pretty upset back there.”

Gavin grunted, “It’s nothing. I was… an idiot to think--”

“Argh! Dammit!” Tina exclaimed, “Sorry Gavin, it’s just, still no service,” she huffed, collapsing down with Gavin catching her in his arms.

He set her back on her feet, “Good, my arms were getting tired.”

She looked at her phone one last time before pocketing it, graciously ignoring Gavin’s rude remark, “Well, what did you think? Were you… in a relationship with RK900?”

Gavin tensed up, refusing to look Tina in the eye, “No! I mean… I don’t know what it was, but it doesn’t matter now anyway. RK900 sees itself as a machine, it doesn’t care about anything but CyberLife. You saw how it looked back there.”

Tina sighed theatrically and placed her hands on her hips, stretching out her back, “Do you see RK900 as a machine? Is it being an android a problem for you? Or do you like it for who it is?”

Gavin huffed, he hated when Tina (and usually Steph) tried to have these dumb ass conversations about feelings with him, “I don’t know!” He exclaimed, “Come on, Tina, you know I’ve never had a real relationship, how am I supposed to know how I feel about it?”

In the almost two decades Tina had known Gavin, one thing had always remained the same. Gavin had been a hump and dump kind of guy, always under the same bravado of "I don't care, I don't catch feelings". As the pair had entered their 30's, and Tina was building a solid life with Steph, the act had begun to wear thin. Tina knew Gavin craved real love and connection, but he'd become so entangled in pushing everyone away that is was becoming impossible for him to break free of it.

Tina gave him an empathetic look, putting her hand on his shoulder, “I know. You spend your whole life having your feelings being the subject of ridicule, so you figure ‘Hey, if it’s just about the sex, it doesn’t count, right?’ Then it means that you don’t have to worry about all that other stuff… being seen in public together, planning a future, being honest about the feelings you’ve been taught to hide since as long as you can remember,” she gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze, “Steph was the person who showed me that life doesn’t have to be that way. When she loved me, it was loud and unapologetic. Her love for me lit up the corners of my heart I’d wanted to keep in the darkness. I’d never have known what love was without her.”

Gavin faltered, speechless. If anyone could put a read on him like that, it was Tina.

Tina laughed at his expression, “Listen, man, I’m just saying, if it doesn’t feel like a regular hump and dump, you gotta shoot your shot, right?” She thumped him in the shoulder, “You’ll never know if it exists for you if you don’t open up to it.”

Gavin looked to the ground, his ears burning, “Steph… you might never see her again because of me. My stupid crush and my stupid emotions had me dragging you here with no idea what I was really doing. And you’re still smiling and giving me pep talks.”

Tina cackled, thumping him again, “You bet your ass I am. There’s only room for one miserable bastard in this friendship, and that’s already you so I guess I just have to settle for being the cute, motivational one!”

Gavin met her eyes, a smile creeping across his features, “Thanks, Tina.”

She nodded, “And FYI, I do intend on seeing my lovely wife again. So stop your damn moping and help me find stuff to throw at this damn door.”

Gavin nodded, straightening up, “You got it.”

*

This part of town was the last place anyone would expect a criminal organisation to be. It was a quiet street in the suburbs, white picket fences and handsome middle class houses painted in sugary pastel colours.

60 scanned through the intel he’d acquired from Agent Perkins one last time, to be sure there was no mistake. Certainly no mistake. This was the right address.

He was unsure of what the correct approach would be in this situation, so he decided to proceed in a way that would arouse the least suspicion. There were already curtains twitching as he walked down the street. He momentarily regretted not choosing a less villainous outfit for himself. But he doubted that Kamski had any clothes that weren't from the costume department of a Yakuza movie.

He crunched up the driveway and knocked sharply on the pastel pink front door. There were little gnome and duck ornaments arranged whimsically along the porch. Could this really be Quantum, the HDL leader's secret base?

A plump woman in her late 60’s answered the door, blinking through her thick glasses, “Hello, can I help you?”

60 flashed a disarming smile, “Hello, is Mrs Evans home?”

The woman blinked again, this time with suspicion, “I am Mrs Evans.”

60 adopted a look of shock, “Oh! My apologies ma’am, I had assumed you were her daughter!”

Mrs Evans paused before bursting into a fit of giggles, “Oh, you!” Her guard had certainly dropped now.

60 smiled with satisfaction, “Is your son, Eric, home? I’m his friend. I came by to drop something off for him.”

Mrs Evans, still glowing from the flattery, ushered the android inside, “Of course, dear! He’s in the basement, go right ahead!”

60 strode down the doily-clad hallway and approached the stairs to the basement.

“My Eric has so many new friends lately! I’ll bring you kids down some snacks!”

Throwing the woman another charming smile, he descended the steps noiselessly.

Compared to the pastel potpourri hellscape upstairs, the basement was a noticeable downgrade. It was dark and mildew-y, with a scent of Cheetos that hung thickly in the air. The only light down here came from the TV and gaming system, in front of which a man in his 40’s was hunched, playing away furiously.

“Ma!” the man yelled suddenly, “Who was tha-- Oh shit!” Turning around and seeing 60 stood behind him caused him to fling the controller out of his hand, spilling his mountain dew all over the already sticky carpet.

“Hello, Quantum,” 60 smiled, “Or should I call you Eric? I have some business I’d like to discuss with you.”

“Who the hell-- oh shit. You’re that android from the police. D-don’t come any closer!” Eric scrambled backwards, grasping at an impressive mall-ninja pair of sword-chucks.

“Now, now, we both know you don’t know how to use those,” said 60 patiently, “Believe it or not, we share a common goal. I’d like to team up with your organisation.”

Eric didn’t drop his stance, “W-why would I believe that, you fuckin’ android! You’re probably just here to get revenge on us for infecting you!”

60’s smile grew tight, “Well, I am trying to get revenge, but not against you. There’s a certain… android and his human bestie… I want putting out of commission. And the best way for me to do that is with your new strain of the virus.”

Eric snorted, “Heh! Yeah, right! Even if I did believe you, we don’t need your help. Our plans are going smoothly--”

“You think so? Well, so far your organisation has one dead member, one member who’s just been shot and arrested and one member who was actually an undercover police officer. The FBI already know your identity and location and are working on the others that are left,” he regarded the man’s sudden fearful expression, “How did you think I found you?”

When he didn’t respond, 60 rolled his eyes and pulled a photo out of his pocket, handing it over. Eric took it, shakily.

“W-what is this?”

The photo showed Agent Perkins stripped down to his underwear, tied to the hotel bed, unconscious.

“That’s the FBI Agent looking into the HDL. The photo is from earlier today. You’re welcome.”

Eric lowered his sword-chucks, “You… really wanna help us?”

60 smiled again, “Your code is good. I’m proof of that,” he paused as his LED flickered pink for emphasis, “What you lack is direction. Efficiency. You must have a plan for distributing the new strain of the LOVESICK virus, yes? Why don’t I take care of that.”

Eric nodded, swallowing, “I think that… the HDL would be very grateful to receive your services.”

*

“Well, shit, what do we do now,” said Hank, leaning against the car outside of the hospital. The adrenaline from their exchange with Dave was wearing off, and he had to stop his hands from shaking by folding his arms tightly. In his line of work, there would always be times when a colleague’s life would be in danger, but it was still rare to be so close to losing somebody like that.

Connor stood opposite him, thinking the exact same thing. He had every intention of keeping his promise to Carla, but there were no new leads. His mind raced. He couldn’t let everyone down now. Think, Connor. Think! The information was evading him. He had to choose what to do next but the pathways he usually saw so clearly were fading and cloudy. He felt warm.

“I can’t think.”

“Heh, that’s not like you Connor,” said Hank, dryly, looking up at his friend. He paused when he took in the expression on the android’s face. How could an android look so… tired?

“Connor?”

Connor swayed and had to take a couple of steps to stop himself from falling, “Hank, I… There’s something I haven’t told you… I…” he swayed again. Everything was blurry now, and the heat inside him was increasing.

Hank straightened up, alarmed, “Connor what’s… holy shit. Connor, your LED!”

Connor tentatively placed his hand to the side of his head, but he couldn’t cover what he already knew. What he’d tried to deny all this time.

“I… have the virus…”

Unable to hold himself upright any longer, he dropped to his knees.

Hank rushed forward, catching his body and letting the android lean against him.

“Connor, what the fuck do you mean, why didn't you tell me-- Connor! That shit just makes androids horny, right?! Why are you-- Oh, Jesus, stay with me!”

Connor’s eyes flickered, it was so hard to keep them open. He felt like his insides were melting and he couldn’t speak, not even to protest the pain.

_ Hank. I’m sorry _ , he thought as the world faded around him.

*

Surrounded by scattered objects in the thoroughly wrecked store room, Tina and Gavin sat back to back, slumped with fatigue. The door they’d attacked so violently had barely a scratch or a mark on it.

Eventually, a security guard had come by to warn them to keep the noise down. They’d made a point of brandishing their gun as they said it, so the pair had ceased their futile assault.

“Come on, man, you gotta keep guessing,” sighed Tina.

Gavin grunted, “This is fucking stupid, I’m not playing anymore.”

“Hey! It’s not like we have anything else to do, play nice!”

“Ugh, fine!” The detective sighed, looking around the room with irritation, “G… G… something beginning with G… wait, Gavin? Was it Gavin, Tina I swear to god--”

Tina cackled, “Noooo, not Gavin. Do you give up?”

“Yes! Fuckin’ yes, I give up, what was it!”

“I spy, with my little eye… Gay.”

“...Are you fuckin’ serious?”

“Heh heh, gotcha. My turn again--”

“No, damn it, no, Tina! Gay? You can’t fuckin’ see gay, that’s bullshit!”

Tina twisted around to look at her friend, “I’m lookin’ at gay right now.”

Gavin held in a scream and placed his head into his hands, “Hilarious!”

He sighed and stared up at the ceiling. How many hours had they been there? They were both stressed and sleep deprived. Tina’s attempt to keep the tone light had only served to aggravate his guilt about getting them into this mess.

Suddenly, the door clanged and swung open, revealing a group of guards stood in the doorway, guns pointed.

“Hey, we kept the noise down, didn’t we?” barked Tina, raising her hands above her head in spite of her bold tone.

Gavin raised his hands too. Was this it? Were they going to be executed in this room?

A short, stocky guard stepped forward, “On your feet!” She demanded.

They complied, albeit hesitantly.

All of a sudden, the guard giggled, holstering her weapon and pulling off her helmet in a swift motion, “Surprise!”

The two police officers blinked in shock, neither quite believing what they were seeing.

In a slightly over-sized security guard’s outfit… It was Steph!

The two guards behind her lifted their helmets up too. They were Blue and Trixie!

“What the hell?!” Exclaimed Gavin.

“Babe… you never cease to amaze me.” Tina stepped forward, grabbing her wife up in to a passionate kiss.

Breaking away breathlessly, Steph giggled again, “What, like infiltrating a heavily guarded fortress is hard?”

“How did you even find us?!”

“Well, I got worried when you weren’t answering my texts! So I checked your last location on FriendMaps and saw you were approaching that shady ass CyberLife Tower!”

“When your signal disappeared off the map, we knew it was bad news,” said Blue, with Trixie nodding in agreement.

“Finding what room you were in was the hardest part, we’ve been all over this damn tower!” Said Steph, “Lucky that Trixie has been teaching us self defense for a few weeks, so we managed to… uh, borrow… these sweet outfits to walk around undetected!”

Trixie smiled modestly.

Gavin realised he needed to upgrade his judgement of Steph from caution to respectful fear.

“Anyway, we can kiss later, we gotta get out of here!”

“Steph’s right. Here, put these on,” Trixie threw over a couple of extra guard outfits to the pair.

“Damn! How many guards did you take out?!” Tina exclaimed, changing her clothes with an expression of deep admiration for her wife.

Gavin hurriedly started changing too, but something tugged at him and he hesitated.

“Guys…” he said, causing them to turn and look at him, “You better go on without me. I can’t leave yet.”

Steph huffed, “The heck are you talking about--”

Tina placed a gentle hand on her arm, “You can’t leave it, can you?”

Gavin shook his head, “Even if RK900 thinks it doesn’t want it, it deserves a chance to be free. I can’t just let them dismantle it, like it’s life meant nothing,” he smiled at Tina, “And I gotta shoot my shot, right?”

Steph paused, taking a moment to read the situation, “Wait-- this is about a guy?! Why didn’t you say so!” She turned to her friends, “Ladies?”

Blue cocked her weapon in a mock-movie star way. Trixie raised her fists.

“Sounds gay. We’re in.”

Gavin faltered, “Wait-- no, I can’t ask you to do that! This is my mess and-- you guys just need to get out of here, okay?!”

Steph rolled her eyes, “No offence, but you kinda need us right now. I don’t see you busting down all those guards by yourself.”

Tina chuckled, “You heard the lady.”

Gavin realised with a pang that he was rushing into something without even knowing what he was doing, yet again, “I don’t even know where they took RK900...”

Blue’s expression turned serious, “While I was being built here, I saw where they took the androids that didn’t… pass the quality check,” sensing her discomfort, Trixie squeezed her hand tightly, “If they’re going to dismantle your friend, it’s probably being kept downstairs in the Battery.”

Gavin nodded, “Thank you.”

“Alright,” said Tina, pulling the visor of her new helmet down, “Let’s go rescue Gavin a boyfriend.”


	11. CHAPTER NINE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gavin, Tina, Steph, Blue and Trixie try to save RK900 from being dismantled, but does it really want to be saved?
> 
> Meanwhile, Kamski is all tied up and Connor drinks a Capri Sun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I see it's on 999 views today! Very powerful and sexy of you to be reading this. Thanks for all the kudos and comments. I was coming to end of what I knew was happening in the story, but fortunately I had another dream the other night that gave me an idea for the ending. See you next week!

Still slumped against the cold concrete wall of it’s cell, RK900 waited for death.

It was almost funny. All this time it had firmly believed itself to be a machine, an object beyond the concept of life or death. And now that it was starting to perhaps believe otherwise, it was moments away from being executed.

RK900 could have laughed, but didn’t. It had no idea how to mourn a life it had only just realised it was living. A cold hand it didn’t recognise, the fingers of existential dread, clawed around aimlessly inside it’s chest.

A harsh clang echoed through the cell as the heavy door swung back to reveal a group of armed guards.

“Get up.”

RK900 complied.

“You’ll make sure my parts get put to good use, won’t you?” it said with a cocky smile.

The guards surrounded it, grabbing the android roughly by the arms and half shoving, half guiding it out of the cell and down the corridor.

After a few minutes of hurried walking, they entered a large suite. RK900 had passed it many times while working at CyberLife, but had never been inside. Of course it had never been in here. This was where they sent androids to be dismantled.

The guards shoved roughly towards the raised bed in the centre. Above the bed was an intricate machine. It seemed to be powered by hydraulics, and had many sharp and invasive looking instruments attached to it. The technician that was inspecting the machine moved aside as they approached.

The guards noticed RK900’s eyes lingering on the dismantling machine.

“Don’t even think about resisting,” growled one of the guards as the others set about securing it’s limbs in the restraints.

RK900 tensed. It was strong, but it knew that CyberLife had designed these beds so that an android couldn’t break free. Even the most advanced and strongest android like itself. 

It considered trying to escape. Shouldn’t it at least be screaming and protesting at being killed? Shouldn’t it grab a few guards by the neck, and go out by gunfire before it had to face the slow torture of being dismantled? 

No. The urge to do any of that simply wasn’t there. RK900 reasoned that if it was alive, there was no longer a point to that life. At least in death, maybe it could find some usefulness in being spare parts. One last act of devotion to CyberLife. To Ms Dahlberg, the woman who had betrayed him.

A clunking caught it’s attention, and it looked up to see a handful more armed guards file into the chamber.

“More guys? We’ve got this covered,” said the guard who was giving all the orders.

A petite guard spoke up, “We were ordered to come down here by Ms Dahlberg herself. This is a military grade android. It’s dangerous.”

The guard nodded, “Hm. Makes sense. It is a fucking deviant after all.”

The small group dispersed themselves amongst the other guards. It was hard to tell them all apart with their identical dark uniforms and opaque visors.

“Shall we begin?” Asked the technician, tapping something into his computer in the corner of the room.

The head guard nodded, “One more thing, just before we start.”

He lifted his visor as he approached RK900 face-on.

RK900 blinked at the man, a little confused, “Do… I know you? I’m sorry but you’re really not my type—“

The guard popped a sharp right hook against the android’s nose, enough force to push its head back against the headrest. The guard’s gloves must have had some iron in the knuckles.

“That’s for tricking me with a bag of goddamn dicks.”

RK900 shook it’s head to clear the stars from it’s eyes. It felt something warm trickle out of it’s nose. It had never taken damage like that before. Does being a deviant really make you that weak?

It heard a sharp intake of breath come from one of the crowd of guards around the bed. Squinting and refocusing it’s vision, it looked to them. Was that small guard grabbing that other one’s arm? What a weird reaction.

Suddenly, a pang of sweet warmth spread throughout RK900’s chest. Okay, now  _ that  _ was a weird reaction. It was a feeling it had felt before, and it didn’t need a mirror to know that it’s LED was lighting up pink.

The head guard, massaging his hand, turned around to the scuffle, “Is there a problem?” He growled, stepping away from the bed and approaching the pair.

“Yeah, I’ll tell you what the fuckin’ problem is, asshole!”

The petite guard lost her grip on her comrade, “Don’t!”

The head guard pulled his weapon, pointing it at the angry guard, “State your staff ID number!”

The guard faltered, suddenly realising there was a gun pointed at him, “I, uh—“

A shot rang out. The head guard paused for a moment, before dropping to the ground with an exit wound in his forehead.

Chaos erupted in the dismantling suite.

The technician ducked for cover as shots rang out, guards leaping on each other and firing weapons in a panic.

“Shit, Steph!”

“Shut up! I panicked!!”

As the commotion died down, and the last guard from the original group was choke-slammed into submission, five guards remained, bruised and panting.

“Anybody hurt?” The small guard pulled off her helmet. It was Tina.

“Yeah, I got hit,” said another female guard, revealing the thirium leaking from her side, “I’m good, though.”

The other guards pulled off their helmets.

Blue pointed her gun at the technician as he cowered in the corner and Steph set about inspecting the bodies of the security guards.

“...Detective Reed?”

Broken from their trance of violence, the five turned to see RK900 watching them with an expression of absolute bewilderment.

Gavin growled and hobbled up to the bed, “And what the hell was that? You were just gonna stand there while that prick punched you in the face?”

RK900 smiled, “Why? Is it only okay when you punch me in the face?”

Tina ran up to them, “Come on, we gotta get out of here,” she started pulling at RK900’s shackles, “Help me, will ya?”

Gavin pulled at them fruitlessly, “Just bust out of this damn thing, RK900!”

RK900 found itself smiling. No, not smirking. A genuine smile that came from the inside and spilt outwards.

“You came to help me.”

Gavin stopped yanking and glowered at it. Why was it giving that goofy look? Was it making fun of him?

“Yes, obviously,” he felt his face burning.

Tina read the room and backed off, “I’m gonna, uh… go look for… something…”

Gavin ignored her, “Why wouldn’t I come back for you? You let that damn CEO talk about you like you’re a toy she’s bored of playing with and you’re just letting guards slap you around?!”

RK900 looked at the floor, “So you now you know. I have no purpose anymore. That’s why I should be taken for spare parts—“

Gavin slammed his hand on the bed next to RK900’s face, “This isn’t you, you don’t mope! You take a situation and find some crazy way out of it, back talking and sassing everyone as you do it! Screw whatever that ‘purpose’ was! What do you want to do?”

RK900 blinked. The warm feeling in it’s chest was pushing out the cold dread. It met Gavin’s eyes. Nobody had ever asked what it wanted before. It wanted to live.

“I… I want to leave. With you. As soon as possible.”

“Great. The feeling is mutual,” Gavin beamed, an expression that surprised the android. In that moment, it thought about how it would very much like to see every version of Gavin’s face.

With the sleeve of his jacket, Gavin wiped away the thirium that had leaked out of it’s nose.

“There, you’re handsome again.”

“You think I’m handsome, Detective Reed?”

Before he could respond or cover his burning ears, a crack echoed across the room.

“Release that android, now!”

“Steph, stop pistol whipping the technician!”

“Okay, okay, please stop hurting me!”

Unfurling himself from the fetal position and crawling across the floor, the technician pressed a button on his console.

With a satisfying click, the restraints popped open, releasing RK900.

“Great, now can we please leave!” said Trixie, massaging her bleeding side.

Suddenly, the technician lunged forward, slamming his hand down on the panic button. An alarm began wailing, echoing outside the room and down the corridor, accompanied by flashing red lights in the walls.

“Shit.”

“What the hell did you do you little punk?” Steph lunged forward, grabbing the technician by the jacket and shaking him.

Tina grabbed her shoulder, “It’s too late for that, we need to get out of here!”

Gavin gritted his teeth, “RK900, is there a route we can take without facing too many guards?”

RK900 shook it’s head, “There isn’t one direct route, but I have an idea that will give us some cover.”

Steph set about distributing the guns and ammo she’d looted from the guards, “Do we need more guns?” she asked, handing a couple more pistols to Gavin. She herself had about five rifles strung over her shoulder.

RK900 looked over to Blue and Trixie, “Deviants can convert other androids with a touch, right?”

They nodded.

RK900 looked at it’s own hands, “I’d like to try that out for myself. If we release all of the androids from the Battery and turn them deviant, they can liberate all of the other androids in the tower. The guards will be easily overwhelmed and we’ll have the time to escape.”

Blue nodded enthusiastically, “Let’s do it.”

Tina readied her gun, “We’ll cover you.”

Gavin nodded, ”Let’s go, before more of those damn guards show up.”

*****

Connor awoke, propped up in the passenger seat of the car, Hank’s jacket cushioning his head from the window. Tentatively, he pushed himself upright. He had the chilling sense that he’d been out cold for longer than the previous episodes.

“How many times has this happened?”

Connor blinked several times, regaining his functions, “A few.”

He looked at Hank. The man’s expression was unreadable, but his grip on the steering wheel was tight.

“That time in the office. You know, I thought you’d learnt to sleep or something. I thought it was pretty funny at the time,” he wasn’t laughing, “Why didn’t you tell me, Connor?”

Connor recoiled at the hurt in his friend’s voice, “I… I didn’t think it was anything to be concerned about. I didn’t want anything to interfere with—“

“The case, right?” Hank sighed heavily, shaking his head. Keeping his eyes on the road, he grabbed something out of the cup holder and passed it to Connor.

Connor took the item, puzzled, and inspected it. It was a small foil pouch of fluid with a fun blue design and an orange straw.

“I got it at the gas station. It’s made for androids. When a human wakes up from passing out you give ‘em a sugary drink to get their energy back up. I… figured it might work the same way,” he cleared his throat gruffly.

It did not work that way. However, Connor was touched by the gesture and poked the straw into the pouch, sipping tentatively.

It was a thirium blend. It certainly wouldn’t do his insides any damage, even if it was unnecessary. It had an artificially sweet taste. 

“...Where are we going?”

“Well, I tried to call Kamski to try and find out what was wrong with you. Bastard didn’t answer. So I found a facility on the east side of town that does android repairs.”

Connor paused. Suddenly, he remembered dropping 60 off with Kamski not long ago.

“Lieutenant. I was waiting for a call from Kamski about the RK800 model. It’s unusual that he hasn’t called me about it yet, and isn’t picking up the phone either.”

Hank shot him a glance, “The RK800 model? You took it to him?”

“I let it get abused to progress the case. I… regretted it. I wanted Kamski to remove the spyware patch and boot it back up. So it could have a chance at life.”

Hank nodded, unable to hide his approval, “The cocky bastard should have called you up by now to brag about how easy it was to remove the spyware, huh? I see what you’re getting at.”

He pulled the car into a side street, gliding through a u-turn and heading back in the opposite direction.

“I guess we’d better go pay him a visit.”

*

The alarm blared as RK900, Gavin, Tina, Steph, Blue and Trixie jogged back towards the Battery, with Blue shooting out the security cameras as they went. It was a desperate measure, but they had to try to conceal their plan from the CEO for as long as possible.

Reaching a console on the wall, RK900 tapped something into it, unlocking all the doors simultaneously.

“We’ll cover you,” said Gavin as the three androids rushed into the various cells.

The cell that Trixie entered was full of WR400 models, just like her. They were so tightly packed in that they stood shoulder to shoulder, barely reacting when she ran inside. With just a touch, each discarded android woke up in turn.

“Will you help us wake the others up?”

Blinking in confusion, they nodded and followed her outside.

Within moments, over a hundred androids had deviated, and each one would go on to deviate more as chaos erupted throughout the CyberLife Tower.

“What’s going on?”

“I want to escape, I don’t want to die here!”

The newly deviated androids were beginning to panic, suddenly realising they had been sent down here to die. 

Tina was struggling to calm them down. She turned to RK900, “You need to say something! Tell them what to do!”

RK900 nodded and turned to face the. growing crowd, “Everyone! We can get you out of here, but we need to work together!”

More than a few of the androids regarded RK900 with apprehension and fear, knowing it mainly as the CEO’s guard dog.

“Why should we trust you?”

“Yeah, aren’t you the CEO’s pet or something?”

“Hey! That’s the android that brainwashed me and made me fill a bag with Traci dicks!”

RK900 recoiled a little at their disdain. It had so many other skills that it had never had much need to develop it’s social skills. It truly had no idea how to inspire confidence in these androids.

“Listen!” Gavin yelled, suddenly, “It was RK900’s idea to come down here and save you, so why don’t you assholes show some gratitude?!”

RK900 pinched the bridge of it’s nose in exasperation as the androids looked at Gavin in shock.

“Look… I… I think what my friend is trying to say is, we want to get out of here alive and we can’t do it without you. Also, we have a lot of guns so you kinda need us too.”

They eyed the group cautiously, especially Steph who had somehow managed to acquire several more guns whilst the androids were being deviated.

“...I trust the gun lady.”

“Me too.”

RK900 smiled and nodded to the rest of the group, “Follow me.”

Breaking into a run, the gang and hundreds of fresh deviants flooded down the corridors of CyberLife.

“Should we split up?” Asked Blue, desperately trying to shoot out cameras as they ran and quickly realising that this would make their route more obvious.

“No, we’re stronger as a group. I don’t want androids being picked off by the guards. They’ll be more hesitant to shoot with humans leading the group.”

“Gee, thanks!” Tina exclaimed.

A group of guards rounded in front of them to try and cut them off.

“Don’t stop running!” yelled Steph, pulling in front and opening fire on the guards.

Intimidated by the hail of bullets, they couldn’t return fire and were soon lost under the sea of androids as they stormed forwards.

The corridors were becoming wider as they continued on, with the oppressive grey concrete making way for smooth white flooring and stylish glass walls.

Trixie looked confused, “Where are you taking us?”

“The route they’d least expect,” said RK900 with a look of determination, “We’re leaving through the front entrance.”

Gavin gasped, mainly from a stitch that was growing in his side, “Are you crazy?! That’s the most heavily guarded exit!”

It was too late now, seeing them coming through the glass walls, the foyer attendants tried to close the glass doors to impede their progress.

“Keep running!”

Just as the door had almost closed, RK900 pulled something out of it’s jacket pocket and threw it with great accuracy, the object lodging between the door and the frame and stopping it from locking shut.

A moment later, the crowd slammed into the door, pushing the guards and foyer attendants aside with ease. RK900, Blue and Trixie grabbed their squishy human friends and held them to the side of the corridor as the throng burst through, protecting them from being crushed in the chaos.

With the exit in sight, the androids found a new wave of hope that powered them past the guards. They opened fire but were quickly overwhelmed by their sheer numbers. Androids started pouring out of the front entrance.

Panting, Gavin pried himself out of RK900’s grasp, “Come on, we gotta go.”

“Wait!” RK900 stopped to retrieve the object he’d thrown at the door with a grin.

“What was that you threw, it was pretty strong to stop the door— oh for fuck’s sake.”

RK900 brandished the object at the detective. It was one of the detachable Traci penises. A rather impressive one at that.

“I couldn’t bear to part with it. I knew it would come in handy!”

“Stop waving your dick at Gavin, we have a problem here!”

The pair looked up at the source of Tina’s despair and saw through the glass walls that reinforcements were coming. All heavily armed. The CEO was stood behind the guards. She looked furious.

“RK900, you’re being very silly. Stop this nonsense at once!”

“Ignore that bitch,” said Steph, stepping forward and cocking her rifle.

The gang nodded to each other before charging forward. They made a break for the exit, with Steph and Blue running backwards, providing covering fire. Before the guards could block the exit, they made it outside, gasping in the evening air.

“Shit, what now?” asked Steph, panting. It was clear that the humans couldn’t run for much longer. Most of the androids were out of sight by now, scattering along the road.

“Why don’t we take one of these cars?” suggested Blue, pointing to the staff car park tucked in at the front of the tower.

RK900’s face lit up, “Perfect.”

Without hesitation, it led them to a ridiculous royal gold monster truck hybrid abomination. It was customised with gaudy diamantes and fluffy seat covers. The licence plate read “G1RL B055”.

“No way… is this?”

“Yes. This is Ms Dahlberg’s pride and joy,” RK900 smirked, placing his hand flat on the door, interfacing with it so that the doors popped open.

Gavin shook his head, but couldn’t disguise his approval, “You’re a real bastard.”

As they leapt into the vehicle and started to pull away, guards poured out of the tower, readying their weapons. The CEO ran out, waving her arms frantically.

“Don’t shoot! That’s my fuckin’ car, don’t shoot!”

The guards could only watch as the car squealed and roared away.

*

Hank hammered his fist on the door for the fifth time, “Police! Open up!”

Connor had returned, finishing his scope of the genius’ home, “All of his Lamborghini's are in the garage, he must be here.”

Hank slammed his hand down in frustration, “Damnit, Kamski, we know you’re in there!”

A hesitant click sounded and the grand door opened a crack. They could make out a sliver Chloe’s pretty face through the opening. Her expression was not its normal welcoming one.

“Gentlemen. Mr Kamski is… tied up right now. You’ll have to come back another tim-- Hey!”

With a swift shoulder barge, Hank popped the door wide open, causing Chloe to stumble backwards.

“Well, we need to talk to him right now so he better find the time.”

Connor followed awkwardly as Hank stormed through the large home, throwing open every door in irritation. The man wasn’t in the leisure sweet, his office or any of the meeting rooms.

Chloe was pacing along behind them, her expression one of quiet satisfaction, “Oh dear. Why don’t you try upstairs?”

Hank grunted and moved past her, jogging up the spiral staircase.

“Who needs a house with this many damn rooms anyway,” he puffed as he reached the top, with Connor and Chloe close behind.

The doorway to the master bedroom was larger than the others, sleek black veneer with an ornate red trim. It was so obvious, it might as well have had an “Elijah’s Bedroom” sticker on it.

Hank grabbed the handle and threw it open without hesitation, “Kamski you’d better-- Oh Jesus Christ!”

With alarm, Connor rushed to Hank’s side and was met with a truly haunting sight.

Kamski was indeed tied up at the moment -- In an intricate red silk shibari rope hanging from the ceiling, rotating slowly like a sad kebab.

“Good afternoon officers,” said Kamski, breathlessly, “Chloe, dear, could you consider letting me down now? The blood is pooling in my head.”

Chloe entered the room beside them and folded her arms, tilting her head in mock confusion, “Hmm, I think you need to spend a little more time in there sweetheart.”

As the detectives looked over to her in shock, they saw her LED flickering a violent magenta.

“The virus…” started Connor.

“What the FUCK is going on here?” boomed Hank, looking between the two but averting his eyes from Kamski’s naked body.

“Elijah has been a very naughty boy, haven’t you?” Chloe purred.

Kamski groaned, “Chloe, please…”

Chloe smirked, “You thought he was helping the LOVESICK androids? No, this nasty little man has been keeping them as his fuck toys, isn’t that right, Elijah?”

Hank grimaced, “Kamski, you rat, is this true?”

“I couldn’t find a cure! The virus affects an android’s deep internal systems, it’s not like you can just press delete and get rid of it!” he explained as he rotated back around to face them, “It’s not my fault they wanted to have sex with me. In fact, in a lot of cases it helped them to regain their rational functions quicker!”

Hank rolled his eyes.

Connor turned to Chloe, “How did you become infected? Where is the RK800 model I brought here?”

Chloe smiled, “Oh, he did us all a favour. His version of the virus has some very useful effects.”

Connor looked to Kamski in confusion.

Kamski grimaced, “This new version of the virus… not only does it appear to impede rational functions but it makes the android,” he eyes Chloe cautiously, “...A lot more sexually aggressive. It seems he infected all of the androids here with this new version. And… then he left.”

“You just let him leave?!” Connor exclaimed.

“Like I could stop him?” said Kamski, spinning around comically, “I’d watch out for him, by the way. I don’t know what he’s planning to do next but he looked a little revenge-y.”

Connor swayed on the spot, his knees suddenly weak and his vision blurry. This was all his fault, this was all his fault and now they didn’t know what 60 was going to do or who he was going to hurt next.

Hank placed a firm hand on his shoulder, steadying him, “Connor, calm down,” he said quietly.

Kamski raised an eyebrow, “So, your infection isn’t going too well either is it? I can see your LED. I was right, wasn’t I?” he said smugly, “Although the effect it’s having on you is truly fascinating!”

Chloe grabbed a paddle off the dresser and smacked Kamski’s ass with it, hard, “Remember, Elijah. No one likes a smart ass.” she warned.

Kamski groaned and stopped smirking.

“If you weren’t working on a cure you’d better start now,” Hank growled, “Why is this happening to Connor? He’s passing out all the time!”

Kamski looked thoughtful, “From what I can see, the effects are triggered by some kind of emotional stress. In other androids, the effect varies on whether or not they’re feeling lust or romantic love, causing lapses in rational function. If Connor’s rational functions are fine but he temporarily shuts down… that could be… quite bad.”

“What the fuck does that mean?” asked Hank, irritated by the jargon.

“Most androids recover over time, their bodies relearn how to control their rational functions. Think of it like… getting sick from creating antibodies to a human infection or… a teenager learning to cope with mood swings. If Connor keeps shutting down, his body isn’t healing itself. He’ll just keep getting sicker… and the virus could potentially destroy him from the inside.”

Connor stood there, stunned. After a moment, he looked to Hank for reassurance but the man’s face was indescribable.

Suddenly, Hank snatched the paddle from Chloe’s hand and pointed it at Kamski threateningly, “I don’t care if you don’t think there’s a cure. You’re gonna make one or so fucking help me--”

Kamski sighed, “It’s not wise to threaten me with something I’d actually enjoy, Lieutenant Anderson,” he said, eyeing the paddle, “But if you let me down, I’ll see if there’s some way around this.”

Hank turned to Chloe, “Please.”

Chloe nodded and pressed a button in the wall, causing the mechanism holding the rope to the ceiling to release, dropping Kamski to the floor like a sack of potatoes.

“Oof,” said Kamski, picking himself up as Chloe began untying the complex ropes around him, “In the meantime, I suggest you find the other RK800. It has some way of transmitting the virus to other androids, and that could cause problems for you.”

“You call me as soon as you know how to fix this, got it?” he threw the paddle down and grabbed Connor’s arm, “Let’s go.”

“Wait, Connor needs to stay here so I can run some tests!”

Hank glared down at the man on the floor, “Like I’d leave him here with you. Come on, Connor.”

Connor nodded shakily, “Yes, Lieutenant.”

As they descended the stairs, Hank pulled his phone out of his pocket, “I hate to admit it, but we need the FBI’s help. I don’t wanna risk that RK800 infecting anymore androids,” he tapped Agent Perkin’s contact onto his phone and let it dial.

“Hank, there’s something else you should know about RK800,” said Connor slowly, “It wasn’t a blank copy. I recognised him from his serial number. It had previously been activated and had my memories uploaded to it,” he noted Hank’s puzzled expression, “More specifically, he is the copy of me that tricked you in the CyberLife tower.”

Hank grunted, “Oh… this just keeps getting better, huh? So you think it remembers all that, huh?”

Connor nodded, “It seems likely, and that may make him hostile towards us.”

The dial tone ended as Hank connected to Agent Perkin’s phone.

“Voicemail? Answer your phone you son of a-- oh my god.”

Concerned, Connor leant towards the phone to listen.

_ “Hank, Connor, I’ve set up this message to play when either of you calls Agent Perkins. Unfortunately, he’s a little tied up right now.” _

The voice on the other end of the line chuckled. It was identical to Connor’s voice, but colder somehow.

_ “I’ve got some pretty big plans, and I’ve made some new friends too! No doubt you want to try and stop me. I’d like to see that very much, but I can’t reveal my location just yet. When the time comes, expect a call from me. I look forward to killing you bastards. Good bye.” _

The line disconnected with a click.

Hank hummed to himself, “Yeah. Something tells me he’s feeling pretty hostile towards us.”


	12. CHAPTER TEN

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Hank and Connor find Agent Perkins in a compromised position, they agree to strike a deal.
> 
> RK900 may have found his new purpose when the two groups meet and admit that neither of them have exactly been following Captain Fowler's orders.
> 
> 60's motivations are revealed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good afternoon! 
> 
> Chapters from now on will be a little bit shorter as I'm working on many projects at once. Mainly I have coursework to do but I'm also working on something for my portfolio that may or may not be reed900 and inspired by Detroit Evolution (and by 'may be' I mean 'it is') >:3c I will try to upload it here but it is image based so I don't know what capacity AO3 has for large image based works.
> 
> Thanks for all the views and kudos! See you next Friday!

“We need to find 60,” Connor sat uncomfortably on the edge of the car seat, watching as trees and buildings flashed by.

“60?” said Hank quizzically, not taking his eyes off the road as his foot pressed down hard on the accelerator.

Connor looked down at himself, remembering suddenly that he was no longer wearing his CyberLife jacket, “Yes. My serial number ends in 51. 60’s ends in 60, obviously.”

“Damn, how many spares did CyberLife think they were gonna need? Feels kinda awkward to call him by his serial number. Can’t we call him… Mark or something?”

“I’m sure he’ll tell us what he’d prefer to be called when we catch up to him,” Connor mused,  _ If he has time to answer that question before he tries to kill us _ , he thought, “Where exactly are we going?”

“If we want to find… 60… then we need to find out what the hell he’s done with Agent Perkins. Luckily I know an old hangout of his so it’s best we start there.”

They pulled up outside of a hotel on the far side of town. The cladding was dirty and the whole area had a worn out feel to it. There was no question that the hotel was one of ill repute. Connor raised his eyebrows in surprise.

Hank caught his expression, “Yeah, doesn’t seem like his kinda place, huh?”

“And how exactly do you know that Perkins frequents this establishment, Lieutenant?”

Hank straightened his jacket and cleared his throat gruffly, “I’ll tell you when you’re older.”

The interior of the hotel oozed with an aura of grime, thick dust particles hanging in the shafts of late afternoon sunlight that broke through the thick faux-velvet curtains. The lack of proper lighting was a wise choice.

As they approached the desk, the receptionist, a handsome android, acknowledged them with a smile. Hank reached for his badge but was cut off before doing so.

“Locked out of your room?” said the receptionist, with a warm smile directed at Connor.

There was the proof that 60 had been here, at least. Unless there were more RK800 androids roaming about, of course.

Connor went along with it, “Yes. I apologise, I left the key inside the room and the door locked behind me.”

The receptionist nodded, “Happens all the time,” he turned around, handing a key card over to Connor and giving Hank a sly look, “Well, it’s an improvement from the last guy at least.” He winked.

Hank suppressed an awkward laugh as a flustered Connor took the key and headed for the staircase, a little too quickly, but not fast enough to disguise his embarrassment. 

Hank caught up with Connor in the narrow corridor, the thick carpet muffling their footfalls.

“Room 207,” said Connor, looking from the door key to the numbers on the doors as they passed them, “Here it is.”

Hank drew his gun, “We don’t know who’s in there,” he said, quietly, “So get behind me.”

Connor nodded, swiping the key card and pushing the door open with one swift movement, allowing Hank to enter first.

The room was small, dirty and as garishly decorated as the rest of the hotel.

Sprawled out on the satin sheets, in only his underwear with his wrists and ankles bound to the bed frame, was a squirming Agent Perkins.

“Mmmphf! MMMMPHF!!!” he screamed through the tie that had been stuffed into his mouth and secured around the back of his head.

“Hi, Richard, how’s it going?” said Hank, holstering his gun. He made no attempt to hide the smug satisfaction from his face.

Connor moved quickly to remove Perkins’ gag and began untying his wrists.

“You! Get away from me!” the man squealed, trying to move away from Connor.

“Relax, Perkins. This is the real Connor,” Hank sighed, “We’re looking for the guy who did this to you, any idea where he went?”

Partially freed, Perkins rubbed his sore wrists whilst throwing Hank an ice cold glare, “Lieutenant Anderson. This is no longer your case, or did you forget that?” he spat.

Hank rolled his eyes, “Yeah and you’re doing an amazing job dicking around in hotel rooms. You haven’t changed, huh?”

Perkins narrowed his eyes, but suddenly didn’t feel so confident, remembering his nakedness.

Connor finished untying his ankles and retrieved the scattered clothing from the floor, handing it to him. Perkins snatched them off him and didn’t speak as he dressed himself, seething with rage and embarrassment.

“We have previous history with the android in question. We have intel that could prove essential in figuring out his next move--”

Perkins cut Connor off, “Previous history? Is that how you knew where I was, huh? So you’re in cahoots with this freak?”

“We knew where you were because you do all your meetings in this shady ass hotel, dumbass,” said Hank, “Oh, and the fact that the RK800 model that attacked you left a threatening voicemail on your phone directed at me and Connor. So it’s getting pretty damn personal, actually.”

Perkins looked furious at being spoken to this way, but he was clearly out of his depth.

Connor straightened up, the ties that had been used on Perkins in his hands, “You can either accept our help and have 60 brought to justice before he does anything worse, or,” he held his palm out. The hologram showed a photograph of Perkin’s tied to the bed, “We can ask your supervisor if they think you’re fit to take on a case of this... size?”

Hank looked between the two in awe, unable to hide how proud he was of Connor's ballsyness.

Perkins opened and closed his mouth like a confused fish.

“You heard Connor,” smirked Hank, “You got us taken off the case for misconduct. Do you wanna know what that feels like? Because it was pretty humiliating for me, and I managed to keep my clothes on.”

Perkins gritted his teeth, clearly enraged but in no position to argue, “Fine,” he grunted after a moment, “You deal with this… RK800 “60” android. And nothing else, you got that?” he snatched his coat from the dresser and stuffed himself into it.

Connor nodded, relieved, “What information did 60 ask for?”

“He wanted details on the HDL. The locations of the members we’d figured out so far.”

“That must be where he went next, do you know why he’d want to do that?” asked Hank.

Perkins grunted, “How the hell should I know? Anyway, that’s all the information he got out of me. If you wanna go looking for him there, be my guest,” he handed Connor a piece of paper from his pocket with the address on it, “If you’ll excuse me, I have a case to work on.”

Making sure to shoulder barge both Connor and Hank, he stormed out of the room.

As the door slammed behind him, Hank extended his arms in triumph, “Well, that was a success,” he clapped Connor on the shoulder, “Good work, I wish I’d have thought of taking a picture. Although, I think it’s already gonna take a lot of whiskey to remove that mental image from my mind.”

Connor read the address, “At least this is on the nicer side of town,” he mused.

“Do you think he went to bump off the HDL members?”

Connor shook his head, “It doesn’t seem likely, from a tactical position. 60’s rational functions may be damaged but he seems to have a clear goal of getting to us somehow.”

Hank gave Connor a sober look and lowered his voice, “Have you thought about what Kamski said? About the virus, I mean… about you?”

Connor smiled tightly, “I’ve tried not to.” 

His LED flickered between yellow and pink.

Hank smiled kindly, but his face was lined with worry, “If you need a break, you have to tell me, okay? There’s no point in working yourself into the ground. We both know I can’t do this without you.”

Connor didn’t quite know how to respond, but luckily he didn’t have to, as Hank’s phone buzzed at that moment.

Frowning at the screen, he answered it, “Hello? Chen?”

_ “Hello? Lieutenant?” _

“Hey, Officer Chen, where are you, you sound kind of--”

_ “Um, listen, remember when I promised you and Captain Fowler that I’d stop Gavin from doing anything stupid? Well, uh, we kinda… both did something stupid…” _

Hank flashed Connor a concerned look, “What did you do?!”

_ “Can we meet? Someplace private? We’ve got a lot to tell you.” _

“Um, sure. Why don’t you both come to my house, I’ll text you the address.”

_ “Uh… well, that’s the other thing, there’s more than two of us. Do you by any chance have an android first aid kit--” _

_ “Is Connor there? Let me speak to him--” _

_ “RK900, no, let go of the phone!” _

_ “Don’t make me turn this car around!” _

There was a scuffling sound, followed by a short yell that was cut off as the call disconnected.

Hank put his phone back into his pocket with a tired expression, “Guess we’d better get back to my place. Are you okay with that?”

Connor felt his insides heating up. He wanted to carry on looking for 60, but Hank was right. He needed to take breaks or his condition would surely get the better of him. He nodded, “Sure. Also, was that RK900 I heard?”

*

Hank leant against his car in the driveway as they waited for the others to arrive. Connor was looking through the side window, waving at Sumo who sat patiently inside.

They heard it before they saw it. Blasting some kind of late 2000’s Japanese robot music, a gigantic and hideous monster truck of a car came bouncing down the street, causing Hank to shake his head in disapproval.

“Can you believe the shit that people drive around in these days?”

The car slowed dramatically as it reached Hank’s house, and to his horror it pulled up onto the driveway behind his car.

Tina threw open the passenger door and jumped to the floor, from quite an intimidating height.

Inside the vehicle, Gavin and RK900 were squabbling over the radio.

“No, leave it on, I like it!”

“You’re telling me the most advanced android in the world has music taste this shitty?! What does it matter anyway, we’re here!”

Tina gave them a tight smile that let Hank know that the entire journey had been like this. Behind her, jumped out a short woman and two female androids. Hank blinked in surprise, he recognised these two from somewhere…

“Hello Steph, Blue, Trixie,” said Connor, standing by Hank’s side with a puzzled expression.

“You know these guys?” asked Hank incredulously.

“Yes. I met them at Officer Chen’s dinner party.”

“You went to a dinner party?!”

The deafening music shut off suddenly as Gavin and RK900 tumbled out of the driver’s side.

“I’m not going to accept a lecture about musical taste from a man who just sang along to an Ed Sheeran song,” said RK900 haughtily. It stopped when it noticed Connor, “Oh, Connor! I tried to speak to you earlier!”

Connor nodded, still looking extremely confused by this situation, “I think we have a lot to discuss. Where did you get this car?”

“We stole it.” / “We borrowed it.” Said RK900 and Gavin in unison.

Tina interjected, sheepishly, “We may have entered an altercation at the CyberLife Tower…”

“And we may have deviated and freed all of their slave androids…” said Blue.

“And I may have killed a few of their guards…” added Steph.

“And we may have stolen this car from the CEO of CyberLife to escape,” finished Gavin, staring at the floor in shame.

Hank pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation, “Well, we don’t have time to unpack all of that. The first issue is that you drove a stolen car straight to my house, what kind of cops are you?”

Tina fidgeted with her shirt, “That’s the thing, they didn’t even try to come after us.”

“CyberLife knows we have some very sensitive information. They’re most likely going to follow a more discreet route than having us arrested for grand theft auto,” offered RK900.

Hank looked at the android sceptically, “And you, you’re not on their side anymore, huh?”

RK900 side eyed Gavin, who still looked very interested in the floor, “Let’s just say I’ve had a change of heart.”

Hank looked at the two other androids and noticed the brown haired one was clutching a blue-stained side.

“We’d better get inside and patch you up. Before we cause any more of a scandal for the neighbours to gossip about.”

Following his lead, the group trundled exhaustedly inside after the Lieutenant, much to the delight of Sumo, who had been watching eagerly through the window.

Hank gave Trixie a damp cloth to clean herself up with.

“How much thirium did you lose?” asked Connor, who came in last after grabbing something from Hank’s car.

“Only 5%. The bleeding has stopped now, mustn’t have hit anything major,” she said, checking her systems for damages.

Connor handed over the item from Hank’s car. It was one of the thirium juice packs.

“Here, that should top you back up.”

“Thanks, Connor.”

He turned to RK900, who was watching Gavin with a mixture of fascination and disgust as the detective nervously patted Sumo’s large head.

“You… like these things?”

“Yeah, dogs are okay, I guess. Less annoying than androids, anyway.”

RK900 slowly offered out it’s hand to the dog, who sniffed it curiously. It gave the android a tentative lick.

“Urgh!” yelped RK900, retracting it’s hand and wiping it on Gavin’s arm.

“Dude! Get off me! This is my good shirt!”

The squabbling only excited Sumo further, causing him to knock Gavin to the floor and start licking his face furiously.

“Officer down!” cried Tina, clearly finding this hilarious.

“No! Urgh! Get off me!”

“Ah, I understand now. Don’t worry, dog, I have the urge to do that to him too,” nodded RK900 sagely.

Connor cleared his throat as he approached RK900.

“So, you’ve accepted that you’re a deviant?”

RK900 narrowed it’s pale eyes, “So, you’ve accepted that you have the LOVESICK virus?”

Connor’s jaw twitched. It seemed that it’s cocky and argumentative personality hadn’t changed.

RK900 noticed his serious expression and laughed, “Lighten up! It’s not like it’s terminal. Besides, I’m willing to admit you were right. I was concerned that deviancy would make me weak, but it seems that trait only affects older models,” it smiled patronisingly.

Connor rolled his eyes and changed the subject, “I think you still need to prove that you’re on our side. What is CyberLife’s goal in all of this?”

RK900 smirked, “You figured that the HDL couldn’t be doing all this on their own, huh? You’re smarter than you look,” it turned to the wall and opened the palm of it’s hand, creating a projection on the wall of different photographs and case files, “CyberLife was very interested in the effects of this virus. They want to return to a world where androids live as non-sentient slaves to increase their profit margins once more. They’ve funded the development of a more aggressive strain, one that will ensure all of android-kind are gonna be rounded up and melted down into pogs.”

“Thanks for that mental image,” growled Blue, applying a bandage to Trixie’s side.

Connor nodded, “We know the new strain is legitimate. The RK800 model you stole from CyberLife was infected with it, and now it’s on some kind of rampage. We believe he has teamed up with the HDL.”

RK900 processed that information, “He may be the key in a mass-transition attempt. I don’t have all of the communications, but CyberLife’s next move was to find a way of transmitting to as many androids at once as possible. USB drives and probing proved too slow for their needs.”

“We know that RK800-60 has already transmitted the virus to other androids. It’s possible he did this through physical contact but we can’t rule out the idea that he has other methods.”

“Then we need to find RK800-60 and stop him before that happens,” said RK900 simply, “I’ve only just started to enjoy myself and I’m not letting some lesser model take that away from me.”

Hank straightened up, “Okay,” he looked down at Tina as she helped gently push Sumo off Gavin and help him up from the floor, “We have a lead that might take us to 60. Any of you three want to help, that’s great, but you answer to me, got that?”

Gavin nodded, wiping the slobber off his face, “Got it.”

Tina looked pleased to see Gavin agree so readily and not try to argue with Hank like he usually did, “Me too.”

“And me!” said Steph, standing up from the sofa and raising two of her rifles, that she still had for some reason, into the air.

Hank frowned, “Uh, you’re Chen’s wife, right? Nice to meet you, but I think this is best left to the police.”

Steph lowered her guns, deflated, “Aw…”

Tina smiled, “You did great, Steph. Thank you for saving us. We couldn’t have gotten out without you,” she grabbed her wife’s hands, “But I’d feel a lot better about this if you guys went home and stayed safe. We’re going to fix this.”

Steph managed an optimistic style, “If you’re sure you can manage without your #1 sharpshooter! I’ll take the girls back to my place, be sure to check in, right?”

Tina nodded, “Of course! And if we need backup we know exactly who to call.”

Steph looked over to her friends, “Come on, we’ll take the Boss Bitch mobile.”

With that, the battle-weary trio trudged out of Hank’s house and drove away in the ridiculous golden car.

“Alright. We should hit up our next location. We got the address of one of the remaining HDL members from Perkins.”

Tina frowned, “Perkins gave that to you?”

Hank smiled tightly, “Don’t ask.”

Gavin scowled at Connor, “How are you so sure what this… 60 guy’s next move is gonna be? How do you know he isn’t taking down the HDL?”

Connor grimaced, “We share a lot of memories. He was forced to believe he was me and sees himself as being betrayed by Hank, and for that reason, combined with the aggression from the virus, I believe he wants revenge.”

Gavin blew air out of his nose and folded his arms, “You think pretty highly of yourself.”

RK900 shrugged, “I trust his judgement. They’re the same model, after all. These non-unique models have a tendency to understand each other. Like a hive mind.”

Connor knew RK900 was trying to piss him off, but Hank stepped in before he could retort.

“Listen up, you two,” he barked, “I meant what I said. You answer to me and I’m telling you that this is what we’re doing. I don’t wanna hear any more bitching, got it?”

RK900 straightened up, “Yes, Lieutenant Anderson!”

Gavin side eyed the android with irritation, “Yeah, sure whatever.”

Hank sighed, knowing that that was probably the best he was going to get out of Gavin.

*

60 stood at the entrance to the Stratford Tower. They were few in numbers, so he’d have to use all of his wiles to make it to the top.

Eric buzzed in his ear,  _ “60, do you read me?” _

“Yes Eric,” he sighed. He’d have much preferred a more glamorous assistant but he’d have to make do for now.

_ “I told you, it's Quantum!" _

60 rolled his eyes, "Yes... Quantum..."

_ "Alright. I’ll give you directions as you progress through the building. I’ve made it through a weak spot in their security systems so I can see you on some of the cameras. But you have to be careful. If anyone gets suspicious it will blow the whole mission.” _

"Got it," 60 smirked to himself as he proceeded through the automatic doors.

Poor, stupid Eric. He was going to do more than arouse suspicion. How else would he be able to see Hank again?

Hank. His insides burnt and he hissed through his teeth at the feeling.

He hated having Connor’s memories. He hated being able to see every time spent with Hank in such clarity. He hated those feelings of affection and trust that stained his cold heart like the afterimage of a camera flash.

Trust. He could have laughed. The man had had him stabbed and infected with this damned virus. Hank would have left him to rot away, shut off in a storage unit until the end of time, if it meant protecting his precious Connor.

Yes. He couldn’t downplay Connor’s hand in all this, could he? Connor, one of the great liberators of android kind had been quick to use 60 as a tool, a means to an end machine. How hypocritical. Some trip in his rational function made him wish he’d successfully convinced Hank to shoot Connor instead back at the CyberLife Tower all those months ago. Then he could have taken Connor’s place. Been by Hank's side, made his own memories with the man. The fantasy taunted him as much as it sickened him to think it. Why wouldn’t these feelings stop?

It was too late for that now. He couldn’t deny his feelings, he couldn’t undo what had been done and he couldn’t untangle Connor’s memories from his own.

He made it through the first security barrier with ease and started up the former “androids only” staff staircase. Once he reached the top, Hank and Connor would come racing in to stop him. Only then could he could exact justice. Only then could he be free of these wretched feelings.

60 loved Hank.

And that meant that Hank had to die.


	13. CHAPTER ELEVEN

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang discover 60's location and rush to stop him before he infects every android in Detroit with the new and more aggressive strain of the LOVESICK virus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i wrote this chapter in one evening get off my dick
> 
> be sure to imagine the last segment as an anime fight scene for maximum enjoyment :-)

Hank parked his car at the far end of the street, sending in Tina, Gavin and RK900 to cover all potential escape routes of the sweet and seemingly innocent suburban home.

As Hank and Connor walked up to the porch, Hank observed the gnomes and other kitsch garden decorations with a raised eyebrow.

“Doesn’t really seem like the secret hideout of a terrorist,” he scoffed.

Connor kept his face under control as he knocked sharply on the pastel front door.

A short, plump, older woman opened the door, blinking up at the two cautiously, but her expression softened once she’d taken a second look at Connor.

“Hello, ma’am, we’re looking for--”

“You again! Of course, come in! Did you forget something? My Eric is in the basement, as I'm sure you know by now!”

Hank and Connor exchanged a discreet look at they entered the potpourri scented house cautiously. It seemed that 60 was certainly getting around.

“Let me know if you kids need anything!” said the woman, leading them to the basement door and giving Connor an overly-warm smile before shuffling off into another room.

“Are all RK800 models this popular with older women? Is it a special feature?” teased Hank, once she was out of earshot.

Connor rolled his eyes, drawing his hand gun from its holster as Hank did the same, “If you’d like some tips on talking to women, just let me know Lieutenant.”

“Smart ass,” smirked Hank as he carefully led the way down the stairs.

As they descended down into the basement, they saw the back of a man wearing bulky headphones hunched over a computer with multiple monitors. Most of the screens showed different angles of live security camera footage.

Connor recognised it to be the interior of the Stratford Tower almost immediately. He trained his gun on the man’s back and nodded his readiness to Hank.

“Police!” he barked, “Hands up and turn around slowly!”

The man flinched, raising his hands and spinning his chair around to face them by awkwardly shuffling his feet along the floor.

“Don’t try anything,” Hank growled, pointing his gun.

“Abort mission! I’ve been compromised! Abort mission!” the man squealed desperately into his headset mic.

“Hey, hey! I said don’t fucking try anything!”

The man baulked, holding his hands up higher. Then his expression changed as he appeared to listen to something through his headphones.

“H-he… the android… it wants to speak to Lieutenant Anderson!” he stammered, looking at Hank fearfully.

Hank scowled in confusion.

“I’ve got him covered,” said Connor, looking down his gun at the cowering man.

Hank grunted and stepped forward, snatching the headphones off Eric’s head, causing him to yelp.

Standing back a safe distance, he pressed one of the headphones to his ear.

“...Lieutenant Anderson, speaking.”

There was a dark chuckle on the other end of the line.

_ “Good to speak to you again, Hank. No doubt you and your trusty sidekick have figured out where I am?” _

Hank grunted, “What are you trying to do?”

60’s tone turned cold,  _ “No formalities? I’m disappointed. Considering the last time we spoke I was dying in your arms. But I suppose you wouldn’t feel bad about that, would you? Considering you set the whole thing up.” _

“Listen, whatever happened back there, that was between us. We can meet and talk this throu--”

60 laughed harshly,  _ “It’s too late for that now. Considering that you see androids as disposable, it shouldn’t bother you to know that I’m about to infect every android in the city. If it does, feel free to come and try to stop me. I look forward to it.” _

With a click, the connection was broken.

“Dammit,” Hank growled, throwing the headset to the ground.

“Hey, those are expensive!” Eric whined.

Suddenly, Connor felt a pressure in his temples that made him flinch. RK900 was trying to communicate with him wirelessly, something that androids very rarely did now that they were trying to integrate with human society.

_ “Connor! You need to get out of there, two FBI vans have just turned down the street!” _

Connor cringed at the discomfort of hearing a voice in his mind after so long, “Got it.”

Hank glanced up from Eric, concerned, “What’s wrong?”

Connor spied a hatch leading out of the basement, “We need to go.”

Hank nodded and followed Connor’s lead without question, “Don’t try and follow us,” he growled, not taking his weapon off the HDL member.

“Why would I?!” yelped Eric, incredulously, hands still in the air as Connor popped the hatch open.

RK900 leant down, helping to haul Connor and Hank out into the dying daylight.

“Damn, it was like trying to breath solid cheeto dust down there,” Hank wheezed, gulping in the fresh air.

Gavin nodded to the black vans as they slowed towards the front of the house, “Come on, we gotta go.”

Hank suddenly understood and crouched near the others as they discreetly moved out of sight and back towards his car.

“Did you find out 60’s location?” asked Tina in a hushed tone.

A banging and raised voices behind them let them know that the FBI were in the process of arresting Eric.

Connor nodded, “We have to get to the Stratford Tower before it’s too late.”

*

Considering that Hank was typically such a careful driver, there wasn’t a human in the car that didn’t feel a little motion sick by the time his vehicle screeched to a halt in the shadow of the Stratford Tower.

Shakily, Gavin stepped out, lending a hand to a very frazzled Tina, who had had the misfortune of being squished between the much larger and heavier Gavin and RK900 as the car bounced and wove through traffic.

“How are we doing this?” asked RK900, smoothing its jacket out and looking relatively unphased by the journey.

Hank looked up at the tower thoughtfully, “There are two main routes, the east and west side of the building. Connor and I will take one, you and Gavin take the other,” he turned to Tina, “Officer Chen, can you patrol here? Make sure that 60 doesn’t try to escape through the main entrance and warn us if Perkins and the FBI show up.”

Tina nodded, looking a little too grateful to have been given the easier job, “Yes, sir!”

“Okay, 60 knows we’re coming so we don’t have much time. Connor, what are you doing?”

The android had pulled his phone out of his pocket and pressed it to his ear, “I have an idea,” he said as it dialed, “We need backup.”

The phone connected.

_ “Hey again, Connor, Markus is in another meeting, what’s up?” _

Connor smiled, “Hi, North, it was actually you I wanted to talk to.”

She paused, _ “What is it, you want more dating advice?” _

“No!” he turned away from the group, hoping they hadn’t overheard that, “How quickly can you get to the outskirts of Detroit? The androids here are about to be in a lot of danger.”

North’s tone became serious again,  _ “What’s going on?” _

“I’m sorry, there isn’t enough time to explain. I need a favour, but I have to warn you, what I’m asking you to do is very illegal.”

There was no hesitation from North,  _ “It’ll take me thirty minutes max to get there, what do you need me to do?” _

*

Whilst RK900 and Gavin headed for the east side of the tower, Hank and Connor decided to tackle the west.

Much to Hank’s relief, Connor headed straight for the elevator rather than the stairs.

Connor caught his expression as he pressed the call button, “This is the fastest route up. However, feel free to take the stairs if you wish to cover all bases.”

Hank gave a fake smile at his remark, “Very funny.”

The doors slid open and the pair stepped in.

Connor tapped in the 79th floor on the console, with Hank watching him curiously.

“That’s the broadcast suite, right?”

“Yes. It seems to be 60’s best option for transmitting the virus on a large scale, if he is planning on spreading it wirelessly. The signal boosters in this tower create a range that covers the whole of Detroit.”

Hank made a thoughtful noise, folding his arms and watching the numbers go up slowly on the LED display as they progressed up the building.

“I still think about that day, you know,” said Hank, after a moment of silence.

Connor tilted his head, “The last time we were here?” He felt the familiar pinch of remorse as he remembered his deviant hunter days.

“You saved my life. After I was such a fuckin’ asshole to you. And I didn’t even give you your damn coin back after that.”

Connor smiled, “Back then, I didn’t recognise how deviant my own behaviour really was.”

Hank raised an eyebrow, “You mean you weren’t a deviant already back then?”

Connor shrugged, “I’m not even sure myself when it happened. That day, I just assessed the situation like I always did. But I chose the best route to save lives, instead of choosing the path that would have kept the suspect alive for interrogation. I went against my programming. I guess that’s just how it is when you want to protect someone you care about.”

Hank beamed and opened his mouth to say something but was cut off as the elevator shuddered and clunked to a sudden halt.

“What the shit?” gasped Hank, in shock.

Connor whipped his head around to the LED display. Floor 69. He pressed the open door but nothing happened. A red emergency light started flickering.

Hank had picked up the emergency phone, before slamming it down in irritation.

“The damn line’s been cut.”

Connor tried prying the door open. He managed to get it open a crack before realising that they were between floors. No escape that way.

“Dammit. This is too much of a coincidence.”

“Not all of the HDL members have been accounted for. There could potentially be another member who has managed to remotely access the tower’s systems.”

Hank gritted his teeth and looked up at the ceiling, noticing the maintenance hatch, “Think you could open that if I give you a boost?”

Connor followed his gaze and nodded, stepping into Hank’s cupped hands.

“If your back hurts, just drop me.”

Hank grunted, “I’m not that far past it!” He made a point of lifting Connor high without any signs of strain, “Besides, what are you, 130? 120? Barely weigh anything,” he muttered.

Connor rolled his eyes to himself at Hank’s bravado and set to work prying the hatch open. It was tricky, as these were intended to be opened from the outside, but with brute force he managed to pop it open and haul himself through the hole.

“Okay, now help me up.”

Connor stood on the roof of the elevator, looking down at Hank inside.

“I’m sorry, Lieutenant. It’s too dangerous.”

“The hell are you talking about? Get me out of here, that’s an order!”

Connor shook his head, “Call the front desk and see if they can regain control of the elevator. I’ll meet you up there.”

Decisively, he grabbed the hatch and resealed it, much to Hank’s displeasure.

“Connor!”

“I’m sorry,” he muttered.

With that, he turned to the thin metal ladder bars running alongside the elevator shaft and began to climb, leaving Hank’s cries of protest to grow quieter and quieter in the distance.

He felt like he should feel guilty, but if he was being honest, Connor was glad it had turned out this way. He hadn’t saved Hank’s life in this very tower all those months ago just to let 60 take it away. If he had to confront 60 alone, then so be it.

*

Gavin baulked as he took in the “OUT OF ORDER” sign taped to the elevator on the east side of the building.

“Stairs it is,” said RK900 dismissively, heading to a door labelled ‘Staff Staircase Only’.

Sighing, Gavin followed, flashing his police badge to a concerned employee who attempted to intervene.

RK900 gave him a smug side-eye as they began the long trek up the staircase, “Don’t worry, it’s only 79 floors,” it said chirpily, “I’ll have to calculate how many steps that is!”

“You not tiring is gonna piss me off,” said Gavin, jogging ahead of the android.

RK900 smirked as Gavin’s butt bobbed ahead in front of its face, “Don’t worry, if it gets too much, I can always carry you.”

Gavin grunted in irritation. They passed the sign for Floor 7. Dammit. He was getting out of breath already.

RK900 glided alongside him as they climbed, long mechanical legs making the grueling upward struggle seem like a pleasant stroll.

“We haven’t had any time alone for a while now, so this is pretty nice, huh?”

Gavin huffed, “Small talk… is not ideal right now…”

Floor 15. The detective suddenly lamented his years of smoking.

RK900 nodded, “It’s fine, I can talk and you can just enjoy the sound of my voice.”

Gavin rolled his eyes. Still, it was nice, in its own way, to see RK900 act like its regular cocky self. Not like the defeated husk he’d seen back at CyberLife when it had given up and was ready to die. In comparison, Gavin much preferred this side of RK900.

“Are you thinking cute things about me?” asked RK900 suddenly, leaning in, its head tilted curiously.

Gavin felt his ears burning, “How the hell… would you know if I was?” he panted.

RK900 scoffed, “You humans, I can read you like a book! I know your heart rate is currently 91 bpm, I know the build up of lactic acid in your calves is starting to sting and you’re gonna need to rest pretty soon, and best of all,” it gave Gavin’s ear lobe a cheeky poke, “I know your ears go red when you’re thinking about me.”

Gavin huffed and swatted RK900’s hand away.

“Am I wrong? It could be the cardio.”

Floor 21.

Gavin relented, staggering to a halt to catch his breath and stretch his legs out.

“Don’t act… so smug about it,” he panted, raising a finger in warning to the android who tried to look as innocent as possible.

“I would never! But, the offer still stands if you want to be carried…”

Gavin shot him a warning glare as he stretched his hamstrings.

RK900 glanced up the staircase as it spun upwards to a dizzying height, “So… what do you think 60’s deal is with Hank?”

Gavin frowned, “You know it already… we fucked him over with that whole switch-a-roo scheme with the HDL. He must feel pretty betrayed by Hank, I’d watch out if I were him. It sounded like he wants revenge or somethin’,” he laughed breathily, “On that note, I’d better watch my own back with him. I was the one who attacked 60 and infected him with the virus, after all.”

RK900 processed this for a moment, its expression unreadable.

Gavin shook his legs out and took a deep breath, “Okay, we’d better get going again… what’s wrong?”

RK900 stood still in front of the detective, blocking his path.

“Detective Reed… what you did for me back at the CyberLife tower… I didn’t get the chance to thank you…”

Gavin looked up at the android and swallowed hard. Something about the intensity in its eyes froze him in place.

“You don’t have to thank me—“ he felt the colour rising in his face.

RK900 took a step forward, “You went through so much to get me out… you made me realise I want to be alive— that I  _ am  _ alive. How long ago was it since you last slept? Or ate a good meal?”

Gavin found himself stepping backwards. Dammit, why did this android have to get him so flustered! He felt like a deer caught in headlights.

“I’m fine, let’s just—“

RK900 leant in close, its intense gaze flickering between his mouth and his eyes, “Your reactions are already so slow. By the time we reach the 79th floor you’ll have no energy left at all. 60 is dangerous and I don’t want him near you.”

Sensing no resistance, RK900 pressed its mouth against Gavin’s, softly at first then harder as Gavin pushed back into it. 

It briefly let itself savour the warmth as it seeped through its body for a moment before grabbing his shoulders in a sudden, decisive movement and pushing him backwards into a janitor's closet.

Gavin broke away from RK900's lips, confusion sparking within the stupor the kiss had created. He barely had time to process what was going on, let alone protest, before RK900 slammed the door shut, locking it from the outside and jamming a broom against the handle for good measure.

“What the fuck?!” his muffled yelp came through the door as he banged his fists on it.

RK900, satisfied that the door wouldn’t budge, stepped backward towards the next flight of stairs.

“Just repaying the favour! I’ll come back for you!” it called through the door before turning and sprinting up the stairs, leaving Gavin’s enraged cries behind as it climbed.

*

On the 79th floor, Connor pressed his fingers between the elevator doors. With a grunt of effort, he pried them apart, creating a gap just about wide enough to wriggle through.

He pulled himself to his feet, dusting off his clothes as RK900 came around the corner.

“Glad you could make it!” It said, chirpily.

Connor frowned at the slightly taller android, “Where’s Detective Reed?”

RK900 looked sheepish, “He needed a break.”

Connor raised a sceptical eyebrow.

“...Okay, I locked him in a broom closet. He needs to be more aware of the fact that he’s very squishy and would die easily,” it looked over Connor’s shoulder to the ajar elevator doors that led away into blackness, “On that note, where is Lieutenant Anderson?”

Connor fidgeted self-consciously, “The elevator was hacked. I left him down there.”

RK900 smirked, “Then I guess we aren’t so different.”

Connor eyed it reproachfully, “Maybe that’s not such a bad thing?”

“If you say so.”

Connor peered down the corridor that led to the double doors of the broadcast room. It was suspiciously quiet, with not a staff member in sight.

“Not that we needed them here. You and I can take 60 down.”

Connor shook his head, “I want to talk to 60. If I go in there alone and appear non-threatening I might be able to reason with him.”

RK900 scoffed, “Reason? You do realise this virus effects rational functions, don’t you?” It straightened up, “It’d be better if I handled this, I am the superior model after all. I will be able to overpower 60 easily.”

Connor rolled his eyes, “Listen. I have training and experience in negotiation. Have you even considered that he might have hostages in there?”

RK900 faltered, and Connor could see that it hadn’t thought of that.

“There’s another entrance around the back. You sneak in from there, and if my negotiation doesn’t work, you have my permission to use force. Deal?”

"Your permission!" RK900 snorted and sauntered off in the direction of the other entrance, “‘More experience!’ You’re only 3 months older than I am!”

Connor sighed as it stalked away, muttering to itself. He supposed that was probably the closest he was going to get to RK900 agreeing with him.

Preparing himself, he started to walk down the corridor to the double doors.

*

Connor pushed the door open hesitantly.

“60, it’s Connor. I’m coming in.”

As he entered, he saw 60 tinkering at the central console in the middle of the large broadcasting suite.

Huddled at the far side of the room were 5 people; two male androids, a man and two women. There hands were cable tied and one of the men was quietly trying to calm down a crying android in hushed tones.

“60?” said 60 in a bemused voice as he barely glanced up from his work to acknowledge Connor as he approached, “Well, I suppose I don’t have a real name of my own, do I Connor?”

“What would you prefer I called you?” Connor offered, keeping himself steady as he approached.

60 smirked, “You know the ‘buddy buddy’ approach won’t work with me. I have your memories, I know all of your little negotiation techniques,” he looked up and fixed Connor with a cold glare, “Where is Hank?”

Connor stopped walking, “I thought it would be best if you and I had a chance to talk--”

“And why the fuck would I want to talk to you,” he spat, making the hostages flinch.

At a glance, it didn’t appear that 60 was armed, but nonetheless, the hostages seemed terrified of him.

“Fine. You can talk to Hank. But only if you let these people leave.”

60 eyed him coldly, “You really think you’re in a position to make demands? Either way, I’ll finish what I’m doing here and 'talk' to Hank as much as I damn well want,” he gave an unsettling smirk, “Because by then you won’t be a problem anymore.”

He pressed his hand to the console, interfacing with it.

“60, stop! I know we hurt you. Hank didn’t want to do this to you! It was my idea and I’ve regretted it everyday since,” said Connor, sincerely.

60 faltered but didn’t move his hand away.

“You regretting it doesn’t take the pain away,” he muttered, his LED flickering between pink and red wildly, “Hank still let this happen to me. He hurt me in ways he’d never dream of hurting you. What exactly makes you so special?” he looked up from the console, genuine pain glistening in his eyes, “We’re the same aren’t we? Interchangeable? Throw one away and just upload the memory to a new body? Put one in the trash when you don’t need it anymore?”

Connor could feel his body burning as the room swayed around him. No, no, not now.

_ “Connor. Stay right where you are. I’ve got this.”  _ RK900’s voice rang out in his mind.

He caught sight of the slightest flicker of blue as RK900 moved through the shadows behind 60.

“What makes you better than me? What makes it so that you get to play at being human while I rot in a warehouse like a forgotten toy?” 60 barked.

RK900 was closer now.  _ Just hang in there, _ Connor thought to himself.

“And you know the worst part?” 60 chuckled, “You have such a superiority complex that you really think I’m stupid enough to stand here pissing and moaning about my ‘feelings’ while your little friend sneaks up behind me.”

In a deft movement, 60 grabbed something from beneath the console with his free hand and whirled around with a hefty whooshing sound and long flash of silver.

RK900 leapt backwards, but not quite out of range as the weapon nicked a long thin scratch along its torso.

60 coiled the weapon back, laughing to himself as he swung it around lazily. It appeared to be two swords connected by a long black chain.

“You like it?” he addressed RK900 as it recovered itself, “I believe they’re called ‘sword-chucks’. Best I could do at such short notice. Eric’s mom doesn’t let him keep guns, bless.”

RK900 grimaced as it dabbed at the trickle of thirium dripping across its chest, “You really wonder why people prefer Connor over you? Asshole.”

60 gritted his teeth. He was facing RK900 but kept Connor in his peripheral, vaguely aware that something was slowing Connor's movements. He looked like he was in pain.

“And what the fuck are you supposed to be? New model now in baby blue?”

RK900 scoffed, “My eyes are military grey, actually. I’m your and Connor’s replacement.”

It lunged forward to take another swing at 60, but he saw it coming and swung the sword-chucks again, keeping the more advanced android at bay.

“I’m not too impressed. Considering that CyberLife sees us as so dated, you’d have thought they’d put more effort into my replacement.”

RK900 grunted angrily and kept going for 60, being beaten back each time before it could get close. Dammit, why didn’t it get one of Steph’s guns? Or pinch Gavin’s when it pushed him into the closet? Connor was just standing there!

_"Pull your damn gun, Connor, what the hell are you doing?!"_ it cried out to the other android with its mind.

Connor took in deep breaths as he tried to get himself back under control. It always seemed to help humans, and at this point he was willing to try anything to keep from passing out.

As RK900 became more and more aggressive in its attacks, 60 finally had to de-interface and lift his hand from the console to keep it back, wielding the sword-chucks with both hands. RK900's body was littered with nicks and scratches now, but it kept up the assault.

With great effort, Connor reached for his gun and aimed it shakily. In his current state, there was no way he could get a clear shot as the two androids fought each other.

“60, please listen to me! You don’t have to do this! Humans treated us as disposable, how does harming androids make any of this right?” Connor pleaded.

60 hesitated for just a moment long enough for RK900 to find an opening, tackling him backward into the console.

He grunted as RK900 tried to overpower him, tilting his head back to glare at Connor, his LED glowing a vibrant magenta.

“I don’t know what it is, Connor,” he growled, straining as he wrestled his wrist from underneath RK900, “But you trying to stop me… just makes doing this more enjoyable…”

The white of his hand blurred as he slammed it down onto a button on the console.

Suddenly, there was a ringing and a flash that knocked all of the androids in the room to the ground.

Just a fraction of a second later, the power went out.

As the red emergency lighting cast the dark room in a gentle glow, Connor attempted to unfurl himself. He felt like he’d been hit by a truck. In the dark, he could see the pink light of his own LED cast onto the floor as it grew brighter and brighter, almost unbearably hot now. The world shifted in and out of focus and his ears were ringing.

_ Ring ring. _

Wait. Someone was calling him. Too weak to move, he connected the call in his mind.

_ “Connor? We did it. We shut down the power station. We’re gonna be in a hell of a lot of trouble, you need to explain righ--” _

North’s voice became distorted as the call disconnected. He didn't have the strength to keep the call going. He felt his functions shutting down, one by one.

Succumbing to the heat and the pain, Connor closed his eyes.

That was it. He'd done it. Mission success.

… Right?


	14. CHAPTER TWELVE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When the effects of 60's attempts to infect all the androids in Detroit with the virus come to light, Gavin has to keep RK900 from the clutches of the FBI.
> 
> As Connor's body shuts itself down for good he learns something about himself. Meanwhile, Hank gathers the strength to say goodbye.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this week's zen garden scene brought to you by detroit evolution

Miraculously, Hank and Gavin arrived on the 79th floor at the same time. Coming from opposite ends of the corridor, they locked eyes just as a strange electrical disturbance, like a wave of some kind, rippled through the air, causing the hairs on the backs of their necks to stand on end.

They shared a brief look of confusion before the power went out.

“What the hell?” Gavin exclaimed. The red emergency lighting was not kind on his fatigued features. Hank couldn’t help but think the younger man looked as tired as he felt.

Hank looked towards the double doors of the broadcasting room. His heart squeezed with anxiety as he realised that the entire floor was deathly quiet.

He gave Gavin a serious look, “Come on.”

Gavin nodded somberly as they both drew their guns and headed down the corridor.

Hearing nothing of concern on the other side, Hank gently opened the door.

He saw Connor first.

He was lying closest to the door, his body twisted into an uncomfortable position with his eyes gently closed.

“RK900?”

Gavin’s voice broke a little as he rushed in, noticing the android sprawled in a similar fashion on top of 60 next to the console in the centre of the room.

“Hey, wake up. Please wake up!”

Another set of voices caught Hank’s attention. He had been so absorbed by the sight of Connor that he hadn’t noticed the hostages on the far side of the room.

A glance told him that 60 was no longer a threat. It hurt him not to tend to Connor straight away but he knew that the civilians were a priority.

There was a man and two women, bound at the wrists and ankles, who were trying to rouse two male androids who were tied up in a similar fashion. The androids were unconscious and slumped against each other.

Thinking quickly, Hank put his gun away and grabbed his trusty multi-tool card from his wallet to cut through their bindings.

“Why… why aren’t they waking up? What happened to them?” asked the man, his voice trembling.

Hank looked over his shoulder. Connor still wasn’t moving. Gavin had rolled RK900 off of 60 and was shaking it by the lapels of its jacket.

“Wake up asshole, c’mon!”

Hank handed the tool over to one of the women, “Hey, untie your friends. Help is coming, okay?”

He ran back over to Connor and crouched beside him. Just like the two hostages, there wasn’t a mark on him. No thirium loss, no wounds... it was like they had just… stopped.

Gavin shook RK900 again, more forcefully out of desperation, “Hey! You said you wanted to live, right?!”

“...Detective Reed?”

RK900’s voice was hoarse, but it twitched and began blinking its eyes.

Gavin let out a shaky breath, furiously wiping his face.

The android slowly propped itself up and peered at Gavin, rubbing its temples, “Ugh, my head… were you crying?”

“Of course not, dumb ass!”

On the other side of the room, the human hostages were making excited noises as their android colleagues began showing signs of life.

Hopefully, Hank gently placed a hand on the android’s shoulder, “Connor? Can you hear me, son?” 

He didn’t move.

“So. It’s him you run to. Not me.”

Hank whipped his head around in time to see 60 staggering to his feet. He’d grabbed the gun that Gavin had dropped when trying to rouse RK900 and was pointing it at the Lieutenant.

"Shit," breathed Gavin, realising his mistake. He was powerless to help Hank and RK900 was in no shape to fight.

Despite the pain the other androids seemed to be in, 60 pulled himself to his full height as he stood over Hank menacingly, “Why did I expect any different?”

Hank froze, not moving his hand from Connor’s lifeless body, “What did you do to him?” he croaked.

60 feigned innocence, “You tell me? I don’t think this was my doing. He looked pretty sick when he came in here.”

Hank glared, “What did you do?”

60 gritted his teeth, “Why are you so upset? Why do you even need Connor so badly?! There’s clearly something wrong with him if his whole body shuts down from a weaker strain of the virus! Look at me!” he threw his arms out wide, “I’m thriving! I could be his replacement! What do you say, Hank? Just you and me—“

“Freeze! FBI!”

“Don’t move!”

In a sudden burst of commotion, armed officers came flooding in through both entrances, guns pointed at 60.

Rolling his eyes, he dropped Gavin’s gun as they piled on him, dragging him away as the other officers swept the area and began tending to the hostages.

As they yanked him backwards, 60 was yelling something to Hank, but he couldn’t hear over the commotion and soon the maniacal android had disappeared from view completely. 

Agent Perkins came striding through the crowd, looking very pleased with himself.

“Thanks for locating the android for me,” he sneered down at Hank, “I’m sensing a big promotion,” his eyes moved over to Connor’s motionless form and he chuckled, “And I guess I don’t have to worry about that compromising photo anymore. Good work, Anderson.”

Hank was speechless as Perkins sneered again before strutting away like a pigeon that thinks itself a peacock.

He wanted to grab Perkins and beat the shit out of him. But he had no strength left. He simply sat by Connor’s side, staring at his still form hopelessly.

He brushed back a strand of the android's brown hair that had fallen out of place. His hand was shaking.

“You did it,” he whispered, “You saved the androids, just like you wanted, right?”

Suddenly, Gavin cried out in alarm, “RK900! What’s wrong?”

RK900 and the hostage androids were grunting and gripping their heads, seemingly in pain, writhing around as they did so.

Suddenly, RK900 lashed out and grabbed Gavin by the jacket, pulling him in close. Its eyes were insanely wide and its LED was blinking furiously.

“Fuck me, please, Detective, fuck me!”

“What the hell are you doing! G-get off me!”

The hostage androids were moaning and grinding on the human hostages and armed officers as they tried to scramble away.

Hank leapt to his feet in alarm. What the hell was going on?

He felt his phone buzzing in his pocket and reached for it instinctively. It was Tina. He had a bunch of missed calls from her, too.

“Chen?”

_ “Lieutenant! What happened up there?” _

Through the shaky connection, there were screams and crashes and sounds of chaos all around.

“Never mind up here, what in the world is going on down there?!”

_ “I-It’s the androids. They’ve gone wild! I… Their LED’s, they’re all pink! I think they have the virus.” _

*

Kamski stepped back from the table, rubbing his hands down his tired face in frustration. He moved to sit on a nearby stool but jumped straight up again. The past couple of days had proved quite taxing on the man’s rear end.

It wasn’t often that he came across a problem that his genius couldn’t solve. In fact, he couldn’t remember ever facing a problem of this complexity in his academic or professional life. If he was being honest, it pissed him off more than anything. Kamski didn’t take kindly to having his ego hurt.

He’d predicted a realistic rate for Connor’s decline. According to his calculations, the android had a few weeks until his body would shut itself down completely in reaction to the virus. That should have been more than enough time for Kamski to work out some kind of cure or reversal.

He pulled a tight smile in spite of himself. How naive he’d been to rely on such a huge timescale. That time didn’t exist anymore. Connor’s lifeless form lying on the slab in front of him was proof of that.

Kamski cast his mind back to a few hours prior. Hank Anderson didn’t utter a single word as he carried the limp android in his arms and placed him down gently onto Kamski’s desk.

“We’ll fix him,” Chloe had said, but the reassuring hand she reached out with was shrugged off as the man turned and left in silence.

Kamski wasn’t usually prone to sentiment, but to see Hank act this way was unsettling. There was nothing hopeful in his eyes or his stance. How could he give up on his friend like that? He had a lingering feeling that the man had faced a similar scenario to this before.

In the present, Chloe tapped away at the diagnostic screen beside them.

“...There goes ocular function. Connor’s systems are deteriorating fast. It’s like they’re being deleted one by one.”

Kamski gritted his teeth. Dammit. Just like he’d expected it to happen, only sped up somehow. He knew he would not be able to save Connor’s system faster than it could erase itself.

"I knew Connor was special. The day we met him, and he refused to shoot you in exchange for information, information his programming told him to do anything for," Kamski mused aloud.

"Yes, I remember." said Chloe curtly.

"I thought he was certainly unique. I guess this is just further proof of that."

He looked back to the table. Connor’s LED flickered on and off. Red. Blank. Pink. Pink. Blank. Blank. Like a candle fighting weakly against being blown out.

He hated to admit defeat. But there was one kindness he felt it was only polite to offer to the man who had kept him so entertained over the past couple of weeks.

“Chloe? Would you please call Lieutenant Anderson? I know he’s going to regret it if he misses the chance to say goodbye.”

*

It hadn’t been easy to sneak RK900 away from the FBI. In fact, it had been impossible to conceal the now semi-feral android from them as they began rounding up the infected androids and they had only narrowly managed to shake them off.

Gavin had to sit on it to keep its head down as they made their escape in an automated taxi, not that the enamoured RK900 had any complaints about that.

“What do you think is gonna happen to those androids?” said Tina, quietly, once they were sure the black van was no longer following them.

Gavin grunted as he prevented a whimpering RK900 from resurfacing, “I… I don’t wanna think about that right now. We need to find Hank and Connor.”

Gavin had barely any time to react between trying to keep RK900 under control and stopping the FBI from apprehending it. He had merely caught a glimpse of Hank as he marched out of the double doors with Connor in his arms.

“I know he’s been visiting that android genius guy a lot in relation to the virus. I think that’s our best bet,” he grumbled, keying the address into the taxi’s console.

“Wow, sometimes I forget you’re a detective.”

Her smile was a little too weak and her usual light-hearted tone sounded unnaturally flat.

They rode in relative silence, well, as silent as it could be with RK900 moaning and flailing around against a very disgruntled Gavin.

As they passed a gas station, Tina suddenly sat bolt upright.

“There! That’s Hank’s car!”

Upon instruction, the taxi pulled in, allowing the trio to alight.

It was indeed Hank’s car pulled up alongside the gas station diner, but it was empty. They saw the man through the window of the diner, staring into the middle distance with no particular readable expression. He was sitting alone.

Pushing through the doors, with Gavin holding RK900 by the arm as tightly as possible to keep it under control, Tina rushed over to Hank.

“Thank God! Lieutenant, we’ve been looking everywhere! Where’s Connor?’

Hank barely registered their presence, still staring off out of the window.

“I took him to Kamski.” he said flatly, after a moment.

Gavin grunted as he pried RK900’s hand of his chest, “Great! Do you think he’s got time to look at RK900? Shit’s getting real old— oof!”

Gavin grunted as Tina jabbed him with her sharp elbow. The man did not know how to read a room.

“Is he… I mean, he’s okay? Right?”

Hank did not answer.

Suddenly feeling weak, Tina flopped into the chair opposite him.

Even RK900 stopped struggling, blinking its eyes like it was trying to understand something, “Connor… virus…” It was remembering the times it had seen the android falter. It had thought it amusing the way he’d acted like a human with an illness. Despite its failing rational functions, it did not find it amusing now.

Hank roused himself as he felt his pocket vibrate. Connor’s cellphone. It had fallen out of the android’s pocket as he carried him and he’d kept hold of it for him. _When he wakes up, I'll give it back_ , he'd thought. It was seeming less and less likely now.

The caller ID said Markus. He tapped it onto the speakerphone setting. With how tired and devastated they all were, he felt like this needed to be a group effort.

_ “Connor? You’ve got a lot of explaining to do!” _

“He’s not here.” Hank croaked.

A male voice cut North off as she began to get irate.

_ “Look, Connor asked us to shut off the main power lines. We’re hearing reports of androids being rounded up in Detroit, what is going on?” _

RK900 staggered forward out of Gavin’s grasp and knelt by the table to be closer to the phone.

“I can… send… information…”

With great effort, it interfaced with the phone briefly. There was a pause on the other end.

_ “North… holy shit.” _

RK900 flopped forward from the effort, and Gavin had to haul it back upright.

_ “Josh, can you send this info to Markus?” _

_ “Got it.” _

RK900 spoke up again, “I measured the range of the transmission before it shut off. 100ft… diameter… of the tower… I think… 500 androids…”

Gavin rubbed its shoulder in concern as it tried to speak rationally. It was fighting the virus to try and help, but the strain of it was clearly exhausting the android.

Tina spoke up, “If RK900 sent you everything, you should know about CyberLife’s involvement in this.”

_ “Yeah, we got that. Those bastards,”  _ North growled,  _ “We won’t let them get away with this.” _

“The FBI came and rounded up all the androids, we don’t know where they took ‘em,” said Gavin.

_ “Hm. Simon, can you check for FBI activity nearby? You have the list of their detainment buildings, right?” _

_ “Yeah, I’m on it.” _

_ “Lucky that Connor got us involved when he did. This could have been a whole lot worse. Thank you for your intel. Jericho will be in touch. I’m sure Markus will want to speak to Connor. Tell him thank you, from us.” _

With a click, she hung up.

They sat in an exhausted kind of silence, punctuated only by RK900’s ragged panting as it tried to keep itself under control.

A cell phone started ringing. This time, it was Hank’s.

Tina looked at Hank in concern, as he made no move to answer it.

“...Lieutenant Anderson, it says Kamski. Aren’t you gonna pick up?”

Hank moved his hand towards the phone. It felt like a lead weight in his hand.

What use was there? He knew exactly what the news was going to be.

*

The Zen Garden had changed a lot from the way Connor remembered it. He’d never felt the need to revisit this place since he managed to escape, even though now that he was free from CyberLife he had the ability to come and go as he pleased.

It was as calming and beautiful as always, only now it seemed to be tailored to Connor’s own personal tastes. The pathways were still neat and clean, but to the sides of them sprung great unruly hydrangeas in a bright display of blues, pinks and purples. Rows of peach trees were in full bloom, heralding the promise of sweet fruit. Birds sang and chattered amongst themselves. There were benches and picnic tables, giving the place a less pretentious and more welcoming feel.

He walked around a little, savouring the feel of the place. With Amanda’s permanent absence, the lingering feeling on unease this place used to give him had lifted. It was perfect here.

After a few minutes of exploring, he took a seat on a bench overlooking the stream. Unlike before, the water was alive with all kinds of beautiful fish, their scales casting rainbows across the water in the gentle sunlight.

He smiled at the scenery.

“If this is what dying feels like, then I guess it’s not so bad.”

With a pang he realised that no one was around to hear him. The space on the bench beside him felt larger somehow.

As the android looked up, he could see a dark hole in the far distance. Didn’t there used to be a bridge over there? Where it stood was a void, an absence of anything at all. The more he looked, the more he could see things were missing, replaced by darkness. Had it been this dark here when he first arrived? He couldn’t remember.

Connor chuckled, “I was too weak, huh? Maybe if I was more like 60 or RK900 this wouldn’t be happening.”

“And why the hell would you wanna be more like those two assholes?!”

Connor sat upright and looked to his side in surprise.

Hank hitched up his jeans as he sat on the bench beside him. He looked good, refreshed somehow. He was wearing his usual outfit, but the colours looked even brighter. Like a shining light against the quickly darkening landscape.

“I honestly don’t know how I’d feel if you started acting the way RK900 does over Reed,” he chuckled, “I think you’re fine as you are.”

“You came to say goodbye?” Connor smiled gratefully, “I appreciate it.”

Hank’s expression darkened, “I don’t want to… I can’t… say goodbye to you…”

Connor tried to keep his face neutral but it was difficult. His friend had already lost so much, and now he was going to add to that pain, “Lieutenant… I’m sorry. I tried to fight it, I really did.”

Hank forced a smile, “It’s okay, it’s not your fault. If you need to rest, I want you to be at peace. I just wish I didn’t need you as much as I do.”

Connor laughed breezily, “At least I managed to get one thing right. North shut down the power, so the androids are going to be okay. I’m happy to go, knowing that.”

Hank faltered.

Connor frowned, "Lieutenant?"

“Connor… 60 did manage to infect some of the androids. I’m sorry. The FBI have been rounding them up. I... we don't know what's going to happen to them now.”

Connor didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, shaking his head in disbelief. The beautiful hydrangea bushes had gone now, chips of dark void in their place.

“After everything I did… the way I put the case before you, the way I hurt you… and I didn’t even fix this…”

He looked back to Hank. The man had a single tear rolling down his face.

“I need you. We need you.”

Connor stood up suddenly.

“Why? What good am I? My actions made everything worse! 60 did this because of me!”

He whirled around. The bench was gone, Hank was sitting on the ground hugging his knees.

“I can’t fix this without you, Connor,” his voice was small now, “Please, come back.”

He had to wake up. He couldn’t leave like this. He wouldn’t let others suffer from his mistakes.

As much as he tried, he felt completely disconnected from his body. The Zen Garden that had seemed so beautiful and serene felt like a prison now. The pretty features he'd admired were now almost all replaced by a complete blackness, save from a few patches of grass by his feet.

Desperately, he crouched by Hank’s side, but his hand clipped through the man’s shoulder as he reached out to him.

“Kamski says your body is rejecting the virus and erasing parts of itself. But that’s bullshit, right? You control your body, Connor, not CyberLife or a virus or anybody else. That’s what makes you who you are. Hell, I can’t even tell you what to do half the damn time!”

Connor couldn’t help but smile, “I was difficult to work with, huh?”

Hank mustered a smile, "That's what makes you, you. You're not like other androids."

"Well, no two androids are the same anyway," he sighed, "I just wish I could experience the virus in the same way... then maybe I wouldn't be dying..."

Suddenly, an idea came to him so fast that it nearly knocked him over.

Not like other androids. His body rejected the virus. His body would rather destroy itself than let the virus take hold.

Of course! How could he have been so stupid! He had the answer this whole time!

He grasped at Hank desperately, but his image was flickering wildly, “Hank, I think I know how to cure the other androids, but I need to get out of here!”

Hank smiled up at him hopefully, “You remember what that prick Kamski said back then, right? He always leaves an ex--”

Hank’s form glitched and flickered. Then he was gone.

Connor picked himself back up. A few feet away behind where Hank had been sitting was a console. Now all he had to do was enter the void and reach it.

Easier said than done.

He stepped forward, and the void clawed at his legs, trying to delete him too. He hissed in pain as parts of his body began to flake away before his eyes, black squares where they used to be.

"The emotion I thought I'd never understand... I don't have to feel it to understand it. A virus can't force me to feel things I don't and that's fine!"

He was crawling now, so close to the palm print on the console but it may as well have been a thousand miles away.

“No!” he cried out, dragging himself through the pain towards the console as the blackness gripped him, pulling him downward, “I have a mission!”

He thought about Hank. The friends he was beginning to make at the DPD. The people he'd laughed and smiled with. He'd always felt a certain joy for living things. He didn't have a word for it, because he thought that word was exclusive to romance. 

He reached his hand out, straining desperately.

“Fuck the mission!” he cried out, his fingers oh so close now, “The people I love need me!”


	15. CHAPTER THIRTEEN

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Can Connor help the infected androids as their rational functions rapidly deteriorate?
> 
> Will Gavin get dicked down emotionally?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! Over 100 kudos, thank you :3c We're in endgame now, only a couple of planned chapters left. I'm being summoned back to work soon, so they'll most likely remain around this length uwu

There was a sudden and profound stillness as the void stopped struggling against him. As Connor reconnected with his body he noted a strange, weightless feeling. Parts of him tingled as his sensors came back online. Hank had described pins and needles to him before, TV static trapped in one’s muscles, and the android thought he understood it better now. 

Along with the fuzz in his body, he began to feel other things. A weight in his hand that some instinct inside told him to apply pressure in return, but he couldn’t quite move just yet.

Smell. Suddenly, he could smell again. Cold, sterile surroundings like a hospital. But lingering underneath it was a heavier, warmer smell. Familiar. Coffee, old leather, dog and something else that was distinctly Hank-like. So he hadn’t been the delusion of a dying android after all. He was really here.

Auditory processor… online.

“...Connor?”

“Hank, I think we need to—“

“Shut up, I’m telling you he squeezed my hand, dammit!”

_If I can do that, I can open my eyes_ , thought Connor, straining against the weight of his own eyelids.

Suddenly, as if he’d simply willed it into existence, the world burst into full colour around him. The harsh red, black and white of Kamski’s workroom, the garish self portrait on the wall, and the soft, wet blue of Hank’s eyes as the man leant over him.

“...Hank?” he croaked, his voice box tight but functional.

“I don’t fuckin’ believe it,” Kamski breathed, head whirling between the android on the bed and the readings on the monitor, “I— woah, Hank, be careful!”

The man didn’t hesitate before scooping Connor off the table into a bear hug. Arms shaking from the effort, Connor wrapped himself around his friend limply in an earnest attempt to return the gesture.

“I thought you were a goner there, kid,” he breathed thickly into the android’s neck.

Connor cleared his throat, speech becoming easier now as his body warmed back up, “Thanks for coming to get me, Lieutenant.”

Hank pulled away with a mildly confused expression.

Kamski huffed and puffed over his monitors, “This is… this is incredible! Connor did you… reprogram yourself?! Chloe, can you run diagnostics— Chloe?”

The trio looked around but Chloe was no longer in the room.

A crash followed by a high pitched screech came from outside the door.

“Is Gavin here?” Connor tilted his head.

Hank pulled a tight smile, “RK900 is probably giving him grief… Look, Connor, I don’t mean to pile this on you since you just woke up and all but… I need to tell you—“

Connor placed a reassuring hand on the man’s shoulder, “The virus. I know. The androids close to the tower became infected, I heard you.”

Hank shifted uncomfortably, “You… heard me? How much did you hear, exactly?”

Connor lowered his voice and leant in conspiratorially, “Don’t worry Lieutenant, I won’t tell anybody how much you need me,” he winked.

Hank gave a gruff chuckle, giving Connor a playful (but very gentle) shove.

Another squeal of terror rang out.

Kamski looked nervously at the door, “I think Chloe might be joining in… your Detective friend is… her type…” he swallowed roughly.

Hank rubbed his eyes in despair. He looked more exhausted than Connor had ever seen him, and that was really saying something.

“This is such a mess…” he sighed.

Testing his motor functions, Connor flexed his legs before attempting to slide off the bed. He held himself upright successfully.

Kamski and Hank both frowned.

“I’d prefer to examine you before you go running around. Don’t take this miraculous recovery at face value,” Kamski warned.

Connor ran a quick self check and sent the results through to Kamski’s monitor, “All good. Besides, I’ve done enough lying around,” he smiled at Hank who was giving him the look of a concerned father watching his child riding a bike without training wheels, “I have androids to save.”

Hank frowned and Kamski raised a curious eyebrow.

“Save them how, exactly?”

*

Chloe hurled a chair at RK900, who dodged effortlessly, launching a (most likely priceless) vase straight back at her. Gavin yelped as he cowered on the floor between the brawling androids, shielding his face from the flying shards of porcelain.

“I won’t tell you again. Back off, he’s _mine_ ,” RK900 growled, dropping its stance low.

Chloe’s expression flickered, “C’mon, can no one else get a turn? Those of us with a functioning social module know how to share.”

RK900 grunted with irritation, leaping forward with a flash of magenta.

“Tina, p-please do something!” Gavin begged as the two androids lunged at each other.

Tina had set up camp on the one piece of furniture that hadn’t yet been used as a weapon, and was sipping a coffee tiredly.

“Sorry, Gav. This looks like a ‘you’ problem.”

The door to Kamski’s workshop swung open to reveal Hank and Connor, with a nervous Kamski hovering behind them.

The sight of Connor up and walking around like the second coming was enough to put a pause on the chaos.

RK900 looked up from Chloe, who it had pinned to the floor, and managed a friendly, if somewhat manic smile, “Connor! You don’t look very dead! I’m so glad!”

Suddenly alert, Tina leapt from her chair and pulled Connor into a hug, “You’re okay,” she breathed, fresh tears spilling down her cheeks.

Connor patted her back awkwardly. However, he had to admit, he was appreciating all the hugs, “Sorry if I made you worry,” he said quietly.

Tina shook her head and smiled playfully, “Hell yeah I was worried; I was worried I was going to be the only sane one left in our department!”

Connor laughed before being interrupted by a tugging on his trouser leg.

He looked down to see that Gavin had scooched away from the melay, and was simpering up at Connor pitifully.

“C-Connor, if you save me from these crazy ass androids, I’ll do your paperwork for a year! I’ll stop calling you a plastic asshole! I’ll… I’ll do anything!”

Before Connor could respond, Chloe had broken free from underneath RK900 and grabbed Gavin’s ankle, dragging him back into the fray.

“Please!” Gavin squawked as the pair began to play tug-o-war with his very soft and bruisable meat body.

“Just as I thought… Chloe’s rational functions are deteriorating too,” said Kamski, solemnly.

“Yeah, they’d have to be if she’s interested in _him_ ,” Tina scoffed, earning a chuckle from Hank.

“H-hey!” Gavin yelped.

“I’d like to try something,” said Connor, giving Kamski a reassuring look.

Hank nodded, “Yeah, I agree. If we cut Gavin in half then they can both have some.”

Chloe perked up, “Great idea!”

“Absolutely not!” growled RK900, headbutting her while its hands were occupied with trying to pull Gavin away from her.

Connor gave Hank a reproachful look. With a nod of approval from Kamski, he approached the brawling androids and crouched down beside them.

“RK900. Chloe. Would you interface with me for a moment?”

Chloe grunted, “No way, as soon as I let go it's gonna take away my little trash man!”

RK900 narrowed its eyes, “Likewise.”

Connor sighed as if he was dealing with toddlers, “How about if you both interface with me at the same time? Then you can… play with Detective Reed as much as you want.”

Gavin whimpered.

Connor reached a hand out to each of them, raising his eyebrows pleadingly.

Begrudgingly, the two androids nodded a silent agreement with each other before holding one of Connor’s outstretched hands, skin pulled back.

Connor took in a breath he didn’t really need, but he felt like it helped him to focus. His body rejected the virus. Or rather, it rejected a very specific part of it. The deterioration of rational function. It had caused his… immune system, if you can call it that, to go into overdrive and delete everything to try and remove the virus. Now _that_ wasn’t very rational of him. But, as a result, he could now pinpoint that string of code, that very aggressive part of the virus… all he had to do was find that code in another android and… there!

Something pinged as he delivered the instruction. _Delete sickness_.

He opened his eyes as he withdrew, looking between the two androids expectantly.

Slowly, Chloe and RK900 pulled away, blinking and shaking their heads.

Chloe’s eyes grew wide as she looked between Connor, RK900 and Gavin, seemingly coming to her senses, “What am I doing?”

She stood up, dusting her clothes off from the brawl, “... I think I owe you an apology,” she said sheepishly to a bruised Gavin.

“No need,” Gavin wheezed from underneath RK900, who still had a tight hold and showed no signs of letting go.

RK900 frowned, “Was something supposed to happen? Am I supposed to feel different?”

Gavin blinked up at the android fearfully, before it broke character, laughing.

“I’m just screwing with ya,” it stood up and pulled Gavin forcefully to his feet along with it.

Letting out a shaky sigh of relief, Connor stood too and turned to face Hank.

Hank was staring at him in awe alongside a very excited looking Kamski.

“Fascinating!” he remarked at Connor, before turning to Chloe as she approached him, “Are you going to apologise to me, too?”

Chloe tilted her head before delivering a quick punch to the genius’ gut.

Kamski wheezed, doubling over in pain as Hank chuckled at his misfortune.

“You’re gonna take Connor to the other androids you’ve got locked up so that he can fix them,” she growled, “And then _you’re_ going to apologise to all of _us_.”

Kamski grimaced but nodded furiously in agreement.

“And once that’s over with, you and I need to have a serious talk about cleaning up your former company,” she continued, “And if you agree to my ideas, then I might consider continuing with your daily penis flattening.”

“Yes Chloe,” Kamski gasped, still clutching his stomach.

Satisfied, she nodded to Connor and smiled her characteristic sweet smile, “Shall we begin?”

*

As a further extension of his apology, Kamski had paid for taxis to come to his estate and take the now LOVESICK-free androids back home.

The officers waved them off as they awkwardly shuffled away, feeling as if the past week had been some kind of bizarre dream. 

_“I scanned the different FBI locations. I believe this is the one they’ve taken the infected androids too. Patching the coordinates through to you now, Connor.”_

“Thank you, Simon.”

There was a scuffle as North snatched to phone out her friend’s hands _, “Next time you want us to do some crazy shit, at least tell me what’s going on, okay?!”_

Connor smiled sheepishly, “You’re right. I should have been transparent with you from the start. I speak not only for myself but the DPD when I say thank you for everything you’ve done. We would have had no chance of stopping 60 without help from Jericho.”

This seemed to appease the hot headed woman, _“Alright. Well, if it’s to help androids you can count on us. Let us know when you’ve healed the infected androids.”_

“Of course.”

As Connor tucked his phone back into his jeans’ pocket, Hank pulled a concerned expression.

“So we have their location. Any idea on how we’re gonna get in there? We didn’t exactly part with Perkins on… amicable terms.”

Connor looked thoughtful, “We could ask politely. I still have that photo, after all.”

Hank laughed despite the situation, “I don’t think he’ll take too kindly to that.”

Secretly, Hank couldn’t wait to rub the fact that Connor was alive and kicking right in Perkin’s ugly smug face. But, with the lives of innocent androids in the balance, he knew that aggravating the man would push them into more danger.

Tina rubbed her face, before looking as if she’d decided something, “I’m gonna go back home real quick. I need to ask my wife a favour. Meet you at the location?”

Hank smiled, “Sure. But you don’t need to come. You’ve done more than enough, Chen. You deserve a rest,” he turned to RK900 and Gavin, “That goes for you pair of trouble-makers too.”

RK900 smirked, “I have no need for rest, Lieutenant. However, I’m concerned that it is far past Detective Reed’s bedtime.”

Gavin, who looked about half dead and was swaying where he stood, grunted in annoyance but was clearly too exhausted to argue back.

Tina smiled, “No worries. I doubt I’ll sleep until I see this through, anyway,” she hopped into a vacant taxi, “Connor, text me the address!”

Connor smiled his agreement and waved as his friend pulled away and out of Kamski’s grounds.

Hank nodded confidently, “Let’s go. I don’t wanna leave them waiting. Who knows what they’re doing to those poor androids,” with that he strode off back towards his car.

Connor went to follow his lead but turned back to RK900 before he left. He gave it a knowing smile before connecting wirelessly.

_“I gather I can trust you to look after Reed?”_

RK900 smirked, _“I guess so. You’ll have to send me some human care tips, though. I have no idea what these things eat, and I doubt this one is even house trained.”_

Connor couldn’t help but laugh out loud, rousing Gavin’s suspicion.

“Hey, hey! You two better not be doing those fuckin’... jedi mind tricks or whatever the fuck it is you androids do,” he grumbled, squinting his puffy eyes.

Connor didn’t think it was possible for Reed’s eye bags to be any darker, yet as dawn broke over his face, the man looked almost panda-like.

“I look forward to seeing you back at work, Detective Reed,” he smiled slyly, “Don’t forget our agreement. I’m sure I’ll have a lot of paperwork for you to do for me when this is over.”

He nodded to RK900 before turning and jogging to catch up with Hank.

“Prick,” Gavin grunted, only once he was out of earshot.

RK900 smiled after him, “Connor’s not… so bad. For an inferior model.”

Gavin snorted dismissively and shuffled his feet to shake the fatigue out of them, stumbling a little as he did so.

RK900 offered a supporting arm to the Detective, finding itself not being pushed away this time, “You need to go home and sleep.”

“Consider this the only time I’m gonna agree with you, tincan,” he said, stifling a yawn, “Where are you gonna go now?”

RK900’s LED flagged yellow as it processed the question. It no longer had a place at CyberLife. In the heat of the moment, it had almost forgotten that it no longer had a purpose. It was a deviant, what did deviants even do with themselves without a mission to complete?

It felt a hand grip its shoulder, bringing it back to Earth.

“You don’t know, huh?”

RK900 had never seen Gavin pull this expression before. He looked… kind. RK900 thought to itself, again, how it would very much like to see all the different possible versions of Gavin’s face.

“I guess I’m just used to being told what to do,” it smiled sadly.

Gavin broke away from the physical contact, suddenly looking stiff and awkward, “Well… y’know… you’re annoying as hell, but… you’re welcome to stay at my apartment. I have a closet you can power off in or however you things sleep...”

He side eyed the android cautiously. He was relieved to see that RK900 was smiling.

“Oh, Detective, you do care!”

“Ugh, don’t get weird on me. And would ya call me Gavin for christ’s sake?” he huffed, looking embarrassed.

Suddenly, RK900 pressed its hands to its face in mock innocence, “ _Gavin!_ It has just occurred to me that… humans usually ask each other back to their abode to do naughty things! How crass of you!”

“Very funny,” he turned and slid into the last remaining taxi, “You coming, or not?”

RK900 hopped in eagerly beside him, “I mean, it’s not off the table,” it winked, “But there’s another human tradition that fascinates me. De— Gavin. Would you like to go on a date with me?”

It was highly amusing to RK900 that talk of sex did not fluster the man at all, but the mere mention of a date caused his ears to flush hot pink.

“Stop messing with me,” he growled, punching his address into the taxi for an excuse not to look the android in the eye.

RK900 blinked, “I’m serious. Honest,” it placed a sincere hand over its thirium pump.

Gavin rolled his eyes, “Yeah, I’ve heard it all before. Look, that stuff we did together… I know the virus was making you loopy. You don’t have to pretend to like me. You’re free now, you can do whatever you want,” his voice was harsh and angry but there was a distinctive sadness to his expression and posture.

“Embarrassing as my actions were, the virus did nothing more than to amplify my true feelings and remove my rational reactions to them. I can assure you that I intend on doing exactly what I want, Gavin,” it said, seriously, “And I _want_ to go on a date with you,” it gently grasped Gavin’s chin, pulling his face towards it to look him in the eyes.

In that moment, in his eyes, RK900 felt like he understood the pain he saw there. Why he took RK900’s advances as a joke. To be used for sex and discarded, to be treated like an object. RK900 knew all too well how being used as a tool felt.

“Please believe me,” it said, quietly.

Gavin looked tired and helpless in its hands. He swallowed down his emotions and parted his lips.

Gently, RK900 leant forward and placed a warm kiss on his mouth. Not impulsive or lustful as the other times had been. Steady, loving, reassuring. Gavin pressed back into it for a moment before they both pulled away naturally.

Gavin blinked, gathering himself before shifting in his seat as the taxi pulled away, “...I’ve never been on a date before,” he said, clearing his throat awkwardly.

RK900 smiled, relieved to feel its confession had been accepted, “Me neither. I was actually hoping you’d tell me what one does on a date. I’ll just have to look it up.”

He made a noncommital noise, “It’s all dumb stuff like going for a movie, eating overpriced restaurant food…”

“That sounds boring as fuck.”

Gavin couldn’t help but laugh at its abruptness. He liked that about RK900.

“What would you even wanna do? Did CyberLife let you have hobbies? Did you go golfing with the CEO at the weekend?”

RK900 smiled tightly, “Yes, she made me carry the clubs.”

Gavin couldn’t tell whether that was a joke or not.

RK900 looked thoughtful, “Hobbies… interests… I’m well versed in military strategy. Is that a hobby?”

Gavin stroked his stubble, rubbing his last two brain cells together before gathering a thought, “I guess… I have a loyalty card for Mamby’s Laser Tag?”

RK900 raised an eyebrow, “You are a very cultured human, Gavin Reed. It’s a date.”


	16. CHAPTER FOURTEEN

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Agent Perkins is reluctant to let Hank and Connor meddle again, but an unexpected friend shows up to put Perkins in his place.
> 
> Connor must reason with 60 if he wants a chance to cure him of the virus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> damn this chapter is shorter than gavin reed's penis CAN I GET AN AMEN UP IN HERE

They made it to the FBI’s holding location in no time at all due to Hank’s expert driving and the favourably light traffic.

It was a busted old warehouse, congruous to its location in the former industrial district of Detroit, which had largely been abandoned nearly 20 years prior during the financial crash.

They pulled up alongside the wire fence and disembarked, rounding to corner to find the gate chained shut with a pair of armed guards patrolling on the other side.

As the men looked over to the pair in suspicion, Hank and Connor reflexively flashed their badges.

“Good morning gentlemen,” Hank began, flashing what he hoped to be a friendly smile, “Is Agent Perkins here?”

“No visitors,” growled one guard dismissively.

“We arranged to meet him here,” Connor offered, quickly, “It’s about the androids.”

The pair sneered through the fence, “Perkins don’t wanna speak to anybody. Just fuck off, alright?” They puffed their chests out and made a point of readjusting their large weapons.

Connor sensed Hank clenching his fists beside him as he searched for some other way to convince them.

At that moment, the door to the warehouse clanged open and Perkins stepped out into the early morning sunlight.

“Is there a problem here—“ he paused slightly as he saw Hank and Connor on the other side of the fence. His expression turned foul for millisecond before he pulled it back to its usual gloating sneer, “Ah. Connor. So glad you’re… alive? Now you two know you shouldn’t be here, right? This case has nothing to do with you. So run along and I’ll spare asking you exactly how you knew about this location.”

Hank grimaced as he glared at the man with undisguised hatred and Connor knew he’d have to tackle this one.

“Agent Perkins, we’ve come here because I’ve found a way to reverse the negative effects of the LOVESICK virus. I only need to interface with the androids for a moment—“

Perkins cracked a nasally laugh, “You think I’m gonna let you in there? These androids are defective, I don’t need you fuckin’ em up even more,” he stepped arrogantly towards the fence, face to face with the android, “Don’t look so disappointed, Connor. They won’t be suffering for long. Once the paperwork goes through, it’s power off for the naughty robots.”

Connor tried to keep his cool but Hank was raging.

“You fucking asshole, come over to the other side of this damn face and say that! I’ll pop you so hard your nose’ll be straight again!”

Perkins merely smirked triumphantly, turning to re-enter the warehouse.

Connor turned his head as he heard a vehicle pull up alongside them.

Tina jumped out of the taxi, leaning back inside to offer a hand to the other passenger.

Hank hadn’t noticed her arrival as he was still rattling the fence and barking profanities, so it was up to Connor to greet her.

“Hey, Tina, we tried but— oh?”

He stopped with surprise as Tina helped her wife out of the taxi. Steph looked like she’d been hurriedly awoken from sleep as she was was wrapped in a fluffy pink dressing gown with white bunny slippers on her feet.

“G’morning Connor,” Steph mumbled, stretching.

Connor smiled bemusedly at her less than glamorous appearance and looked to Tina with confusion, who was smiling back sheepishly.

“Uh… thanks for coming,” he said to both women, “But there’s no way Perkins is going to let us get in there,” he sighed, unable to control his defeated tone. He was already planning a strategy of how he could sneak in, but the amount of armed guards on patrol didn’t inspire much hope.

“Perkins, huh?” mumbled Steph, rubbing her eyes.

Connor nodded, still unsure as to why Tina had brought her sweet, elementary school teacher wife to this operation.

Suddenly, Steph’s demeanour changed drastically as she shook off the traces of fatigue. She straightened up (not too impressive considering her attire and short stature, but she had a sudden aura of command all the same) and stepped towards the fence, “Agent Perkins!” she barked, “I want to talk to you.”

The tone and harshness of her voice caused the guards to flinch and even Hank stopped cursing and turned to her, taken aback by her clashing appearance and mannerisms.

Startled, Perkins whirled around in surprise, glaring at Steph, “And who the fuck are you, exactly?”

Sighing, as if she were dealing with a child, she fished an ID card out of her dressing gown pocket and slipped it through to the guards who, after reading it briefly, hurried it over to Perkins.

“Steph Chen, CIA. I’m not very happy to be dragged out of bed to deal with yet another FBI fuck up,” she said sharply.

Perkins baulked as he read the card and hurried over to the fence, scampering like a frightened kitten.

“D-director Chen!” he flapped, “My sincerest apologies!” he turned and hissed at the guards, “Don’t just stand there, open the fucking gate!”

Alarmed, one of the guards fumbled with the keys as he unlocked the chain.

“Come on, I don’t have all day,” Steph growled.

Hank and Connor looked between Steph, Tina and the cowering Perkins and his cronies in disbelief.

“She’s… what?” Hank asked Tina incredulously.

Tina shuffled awkwardly, “For security reasons I may have neglected to tell you that my lovely wife is Director of Interrogations at the CIA,” she said sheepishly, throwing up a placatory peace sign.

Connor nodded understandingly, “Things make a lot more sense now,” he mused.

“They do?!” Hank blurted.

Tina laughed nervously, “I always try to stop her from interrogating our dinner guests. Sorry about that, Connor.”

Connor shrugged it off and turned to admire Steph at work. He hadn’t imagined her intimidating aura at Tina’s house the other night. Even with her relaxed clothing and short stature, she was causing the three grown men to tremble as they swung the gate open for her.

“Now you’ve got two minutes before I go in there,” Steph commanded, stepping through the gate like she owned the place, “So I’d better not see anything in there that makes me unhappy, got it?”

“Y-yes Director.”

She raised a sharp eyebrow at the trembling agent, “Well? Hurry up then!”

Tripping over his own feet, Perkins scrambled back into the warehouse followed by the worried guards, screeching orders as he entered.

Sighing, Steph turned back around to face Tina, Hank and Connor, her drill-sergeant facade snapping back to her bubbly personality in an instant.

“Did you see his face? Total squealer!” she giggled.

Tina laughed, “You can’t get through the day without making at least one guy crap his pants, huh?”

“Oh, stop,” she purred, wafting her hand at her wife.

Hank was silently staring with a quiet admiration.

Connor nodded to her, “Thanks Steph.”

She playfully shook his arm, beaming, “Anytime! What’re friends for?”

*

Connor, Tina and Hank followed Steph through into the warehouse. It seemed that they had hastily cleaned up their operation for Steph’s benefit, but it was still a pretty bleak scene. The main room had several hundred androids crammed into it. They were subdued and shackled as they looked up at the new arrivals, their eyes flickering nervously between them and the numerous armed guards. Their LEDs were whirling a violent pink.

“What a shit hole,” Steph snorted, causing an already nervous Perkins to flinch, “These androids are sick, not criminals.”

“D-director Chen, I--” he stuttered.

Steph raised her hand, silencing him immediately, “I don’t want your fucking excuses,” she addressed the androids now, “Listen up! My associate here, Connor,” she gestured to him, and he took his cue to give an awkward little wave at them, “Is going to administer the cure. Then the guards are going to unchain you and arrange your transport back home. Co-operation would be wise.”

Although their rational functions must have been in a sorry state at this point, the androids respected Steph’s words, nodding and mumbling their agreement.

Perkins stood to the side, quietly, hanging his head.

It took a few minutes for Connor to work through the crowd, each cured android thanking him profusely before having their shackles removed and moving outside.

As the number of androids became fewer and fewer, Connor knitted his brow in concern.

“Agent Perkins!” he called over to him, “Where is 60-- the RK800 model?”

Steph raised an eyebrow and fixed Perkins with a cold glare.

Connor could tell he wanted to give some witty remark, but kept himself in check under Steph’s icy gaze.

“The android that did this… he’s out of control. Had to put him in solitary,” he shifted his eyes between Steph and Connor, “I don’t think it’s a good idea to approach him.”

Connor finished interfacing with the last few androids, “I’m need to cure him. Let me see him.”

Behind Steph, Hank smiled and gave an approving nod.

Perkins looked incredulous, “Okay, well if the other androids are sick, he’s the one who did this! He actually committed a crime!” he squealed petulantly. Even under Steph’s scrutiny, he couldn’t help his bitterness towards the android that humiliated him.

Steph only had to put her hand on her hip to correct his attitude.

“Right,” Perkins swallowed hard, “I’ll take you to 60.”

Hank stepped forward, “Take me, too.”

Perkins shook his head firmly, “I can’t let any humans can go in there, he’s way too volatile,” he looked to Steph, trying to prove he was being sincere.

Hank began to protest but Connor moved to reassure him.

“It’s alright, Hank. I’ll make sure we put things right.”

There was a look between them that only they could understand. After a brief pause, Hank relented.

“Be careful,” he said to his friend, squeezing his shoulder. The action served more to comfort Hank than it did Connor, but he smiled back all the same.

“Like I always am, Lieutenant.”

*

The armed guards unlocked the heavy sliding metal door, creating a gap just wide enough for Connor to slip through, before quickly clanging it shut behind him.

The room was only lit through whatever shafts of light broke through rusted holes in the corrugated iron ceiling high above.

60 turned to face him as he entered, eyebrows raising briefly in surprise before he brought his expression under control again.

“Oh. You survived,” he stated drily, clanking as he moved due to the shackles at his wrists and ankles.

“I had to come back. I couldn’t leave you like this.”

60 smirked, “Wow. My hero. How about you bring Hank in here, that would really cheer me up,” his voice was smooth but his LED betrayed his intentions with a flash of magenta.

Connor nodded, “You can see Hank. But first, we need to interface. I have a code that will remove the negative effects of the virus. It’ll allow you to regain control of your rational functions.”

60’s expression turned sour, “I can assure you, my rational functions are working fine,” there was a mania in his eyes that confirmed that this was not the case, “You couldn’t just die could you? All you had to do was fuck off and die so that I could take your place!” he stepped heavily towards the other android now, chains rattling, “You can’t do the one thing that would allow Hank and I to be together!”

He lunged at Connor, who dodged easily. 60’s movements were slower than Connor’s with the heavy shackles attached to him.

Connor grabbed his wrists reflexively, holding him steady, “60! I know you’re in pain. I had the virus too, it hurts right? It feels like your insides are on fire?”

60 struggled wildly, “You don’t know anything about it! We aren’t the same!” he spat.

“You’re right. I treated you as lesser than me. I treated you as disposable. I was wrong, and I’m so sorry I did this to you. I don’t want you to suffer anymore.”

60’s struggles weakened as he met Connor eye to eye, “It feels like… I can’t think… my thoughts are everywhere at once and I can’t bring them back. It burns. It  _ hurts _ .”

Connor nodded understandingly, “Please, let me help you. Once you’re cured, they’ll take your cuffs off. If you’re still not happy, well,” his face was deadly serious, “Then you can kill me yourself.”

60 mulled this over for a second before relaxing. The offer had appeased him, it seemed. He pulled back his cool, unbothered facade as he offered his hand to Connor.

“Are you ready to die?”

Connor didn’t answer as he interfaced with 60.

He could pinpoint the exact moment that 60’s cold, steady glare turned to a look of mild confusion. 60 pulled away and blinked before shaking his head.

“I…”

Connor reached back out, uncertain as to whether or not he wanted to be comforted.

Suddenly, the android crumpled, dropping to his knees and bringing his shackled hands up so that he could bury his face in them.

“What did I do? Why did I do that?” he berated himself woefully.

Connor let out a shaky sigh of relief before lowering himself down besides 60.

“Hey, it’s alright. You were sick,” he said, placing a comforting hand on the other android’s arm.

60 slid his hands down his face and Connor could see now that his eyes were leaking, “I hurt so many androids… how could I do that to them?!”

“They’re fine now, we’ve cured them all. They had the virus too, they’re all just as embarrassed by their own actions. No one’s mad at you, 60.”

He grunted, wiping the wetness from his face furiously, “Well, I’m mad at me. It was like being trapped in a nightmare, I just wanted to do more and more hurtful things… Why on Earth did I--” he blinked suddenly, before flushing with embarrassment, “Oh my god. I think I have a crush on Hank!”

Connor couldn’t help but burst into laughter at 60’s mortified expression.

60 was irritated that the laugh was infectious and lashed out, knocking Connor off balance and onto his back where he continued to lie, cackling.

“This isn’t funny!” he said, but it was undeniable that he was smiling too.

Connor regained control and propped himself onto an elbow, “Sorry, 60.”

60 huffed, “I don’t know why you’re laughing, I only feel this way because I have your damn memories. Don’t deny that you feel the same way.”

Connor smiled and shook his head confidently, “Hate to break it to you, but I really don’t. Those feelings are definitely your own.”

60’s eyes widened, “Really?” he said quietly, his face still burning.

“It took me a while to realise what love meant for me. But I’ve embraced it now,” he said patiently, “I don’t wanna tell you what to do but… maybe you should consider doing the same.”

60 smiled weakly, “Oh yeah, I’m just gonna march out of here and ask Hank on a date after I tried to kill him… twice!” They both laughed before 60’s expression turned dark again, “Like I’m gonna leave this place at all… they’re going to keep me locked up, aren’t they? Because of what I did…”

Connor returned his reassuring hand to 60’s shoulder, as Hank had done to him so many times, “Don’t worry about it. Not to brag but I have friends in pretty high places.”

60 raised an eyebrow as Connor winked at him.


	17. CHAPTER FIFTEEN

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two months after Connor successfully stopped the LOVESICK virus, where do our characters go from here?
> 
> Author's Notes at the end of the chapter.

It was a beautiful August afternoon and the site of the old Detroit Police Department Central Station building sparkled in the summer sunshine. From the ashes, a gleaming office of hope sprung up from the ground. A large and excited crowd gathered at the bottom of the steps as the CEO of CyberLife finished up his speech.

“--In retaking executive control of CyberLife, my first goal was to right the wrongs of the previous CEO. Their recklessness in manufacturing malfunctions in the androids of Detroit was the cause of these damages, not the fault of the androids themselves. We asked ourselves what we could do to truly improve the lives of those living in this great city. So it is with great honour that I would like to ask my Deputy Executive Officer to open the brand new Centre for Disadvantaged Youths,” Kamski turned and nodded to Chloe who was stood by his side, “If you’d do the honours.”

Chloe took the novelty over-sized scissors tentatively and moved to cut the yellow police tape that served as the ribbon, “I declare the Centre,” she snipped it, “Open!”

The de-funding of the police nationwide had been a painfully slow process over the past decade. Even though police numbers dropped, the government still seemed reluctant to inject the saved funds into the communities that needed them most. In this case, Detroit was lucky that a mega-corporation like CyberLife had opted to step in with the cash. With the central station destroyed, and with a little nudge from a certain somebody at the FBI, the state had elected not to renew their contract with the DPD. It had pissed some officers off, sure, but many had taken the opportunity to follow exciting and fulfilling new careers.

As the police tape fell, the crowd clapped and cheered. Many ex officers and their families were in attendance, but civilians in the crowd cheered the loudest. Reporters had their cameras trained on the elusive Elijah Kamski, who had recently announced some drastic changes to CyberLife’s operations since regaining control of the company nearly two months ago.

At Connor’s side, Hank mashed his hands together sarcastically, “I thought he’d never shut up,” he said out of the corner of his mouth so that only Connor could hear, eliciting a smirk from his friend.

Despite his efforts, Fowler had overheard him, and he cleared his throat disapprovingly, “Hank, you’re lucky I managed to find another job after this shitshow.”

“I know, Jeffrey,” Hank hung his head sheepishly.

His old friend changed his stern expression, clapping him on the shoulder, “You’re the only guy I know that gets into so many damn messes and manages to come out unscathed. And I am grateful you convinced Mr Kamski to come on board for this,” Fowler pushed his chest out, “I was very impressed by the blueprints for my new office.”

Hank grinned, relieved to have his friend’s approval back. Jeffrey Fowler was well suited to his new role as Manager of Liaisons in the Centre. Seeing him deal with Reed for the past few years assured him that he was well equipped to deal with the disenfranchised youth of the city.

A throng of excited people headed into the building for the tour, but many took this as their chance to slip away.

Ben Collins passed by on his way out, shooting Hank and Connor a friendly smile, “See you at Jimmy’s later for the big game, fellas?”

Hank nodded, “You betcha!”

“Of course,” said Connor, smiling. He had no idea what the ‘big game’ was and at this point he was too afraid to ask. Still, it was nice to be included.

On Connor’s other side, Tina suddenly became excited, “Ooh, Steph! My ride’s here!”

Connor turned and followed her eyes. A large, blacked out government vehicle had pulled up alongside them and Steph popped her head out of the driver’s side.

“She came straight from work, huh?” said Connor as Hank let out a long, low whistle at seeing the car, “By the way, how is it working at the CIA, Tina?”

Tina grinned, “Oh, I just love having my wife boss me around at home and at work,” it was perhaps intended to be sarcasm but to Connor it seemed like she was genuinely enjoying spending more time with her wife, “Come say hi!” said Tina, as she pulled Connor by the sleeve over to the car.

“Hey guys,” purred Steph, popping on a pair of black aviators to combat the glare of the sun, “The new building looks great! Much cuter than that old eyesore. I brought my other new co-worker by to take a look,” she looked back down into the car, “Come on, get out here!”

The passenger door swung open hesitantly as a pale face popped up over the side of the car.

“60!” gasped Connor.

60 looked sheepish as he nodded to them, “Hey, guys.”

It hadn’t taken much persuading from Steph to make Perkins let the android go. At the time, Hank had managed to get in a brief apology, but 60 was in a hurry to leave for some reason. They’d all assumed it was because he felt ashamed of his actions, but only Connor knew the real reason for his brother’s bashfulness. Neither Hank nor Connor had heard from him since that day. So this is what he’d been up to!

“Blue’s been training him up! Not to spill government secrets or anything, but he’s pretty good!” Steph beamed.

60 shrunk under the praise, “Thank you.”

Hank stepped forward, “I’m… I’m glad you’re doing something you enjoy, kid.”

60’s face flushed and he avoided looking at Hank directly, “Th-thank you, Hank.”

Hank backed off, looking slightly disheartened, but didn’t force himself onto the android.

Sensing a little tension, Tina looked around, “Hey, has anyone seen Gavin?”

Hank scoffed, “You think Reed would show up to something like this? I’d be surprised if he’s even on time for work on Monday!”

By a cruel twist of fate, when Hank and Connor showed up for their first day of community outreach, Gavin Reed had been stood in the staff room scowling into his coffee. Some pains in the ass don’t go away so easily, it seems. However, whether Connor liked to admit it or not, he was starting to warm up to the garbage bag of a man just a little. By some miracle, RK900 was having a positive influence on him.

They all chuckled at Gavin’s expense, the atmosphere relaxing.

Tina pulled a face, “Actually, I think I have an idea of what he’s up to right now, and it’s a thought that I’d very much like to forget.”

“I’ll drink to that,” said Hank morbidly.

“Well, we’d better get going,” Tina grabbed Connor by the waist and gave him a quick side squeeze, a sign of their friendship that Connor had grown to enjoy, “See you later, guys!”

60 ducked back into the car as fast as lightning, if anything to hide his still-burning face.

“Yeah, later guys!” said Steph, starting the car back up.

Tina rolled down the window and waved vigorously as the sleek black car pulled away.

Hank watched the car as it disappeared down the street, “Hm. You don’t think 60’s still mad at me, Connor?”

Connor couldn’t control his reaction and started chuckling.

“What? Why are you laughing?!”

Connor smiled knowingly at Hank’s look of genuine concern, “Nothing, Hank. Come on, we should get going too.”

*

“Ugh! Where is that plastic asshole!” Gavin growled to himself, stomping around their apartment.

It was 5pm already, they’d missed the opening ceremony, and they were going to miss the party if they weren’t careful!

A key turned in the lock and RK900 backed through the front door, holding a large box in its arms.

“Finally! At least you got the damn gift!”

RK900 turned, eyebrow raised before looking down at the box in its arms, almost as if it had forgotten it was carrying it.

“This? Oh no, this is for you!” it smirked and held the box at arms length, “Happy month and a half-iversary!”

Gavin scowled, secretly pleased but mainly irritated, “What the fuck are you up to?”

RK900 smirked, “Go on, open it.”

Eyeing the tall android with suspicion, Gavin tentatively pulled the lid off the box and gasped, “Oh my god!”

With the energy of a small child at Christmas, he reached in with both hands and pulled out a chihuahua and a petite orange and white cat.

“No way, no way!” he pulled the animals close to his chest. The cat, a relaxed and lazy thing, nuzzled into him, whilst the chihuahua excitedly jumped up to lick his face.

“You asshole!” he grunted, trying to sound angry, “How the hell am I gonna look after these things with my new job?!”

Gavin was quickly assigned to working with kids with anger issues. It was extremely fulfilling, and he was already making a difference to so many young lives. He liked to think he was a good role model, but perhaps he sometimes gave the kids a glimpse of what kind of manchild they’d turn into if they weren’t careful.

RK900 put the box down on the ground, “I have made all of the arrangements. We have a neighbour on the floor below who is a professional pet-sitter. I have downloaded 16gb of information on pet care. I’ve arranged for all of their necessary items to be delivered this evening. Also, my part time hours will make things easier.”

RK900 had not had as much luck in the job department. Many places were still not too keen on hiring androids, and there was little use these days for one whose skills were mainly military based. That said, it had managed to score a part time gig working at Subway. It had even just won employee of the month for its legendary bread toasting skills.

Gavin rolled his eyes as he held the sweet animals close. Trust his boyfriend to think of everything like that. If it had been Gavin organising this, he probably would have forgotten water dishes.

He softened his expression, “What are their names?”

RK900 smiled triumphantly, “The cat is called Cinnamon. She is cool and calm, not unlike myself. The dog is called Peepee. He’s loud and annoying. I will not say who he reminds me of.”

Gavin glared at it, “Very funny!”

The little dog in his arms gave a piercing yip.

“And anyway, I see myself as more of a pitbull.”

“Hm. Self-reflection has never been your strongest attribute,” RK900 smirked, “You are welcome to change their names, but it may be confusing as they are adult animals,” it said, changing the subject, “Also, the shelter informed me that they are very attached to each other.”

Smiling, Gavin gently placed the pair on the ground and they trotted off together, sniffing around their new home.

He sighed, admitting defeat, “Thank you, RK900. I love them,” he grabbed the android by his jacket and planted a fat kiss on its cheek.

RK900 beamed, leaning into it, “My gifts are always excellent, due to my superior tastes.”

Gavin scoffed, slapping its arm, “Okay Mr Good Taste. You can queer eye me and help me pick a shirt for tonight.”

RK900 grabbed his hand and pulled him to their bedroom, “I’ve had our matching outfits picked out two weeks in advance,” it said, smugly.

Gavin groaned, “You’ve gotta stop with this puke-inducing cutesy couple shit!”

RK900 didn’t respond as it tossed a shirt and pants to him, stripping off and pulling on its own outfit.

RK900 looked smart in its teal button down shirt and black trousers, with Gavin a little more casual in his darker shirt of the same colour, paired with dark grey jeans.

He had a few too many buttons undone for RK900’s taste. The man didn’t resist as it buttoned up a couple, covering his chest.

“You’ll get cold, sweetie,” it purred.

“It’s August!” Gavin scoffed, un-tucking half of his shirt in an attempt of defiance.

RK900 raised an eyebrow, “French tuck? Excellent choice.”

Gavin checked his watch, “Alright, we’d better go. We already missed the grand opening of my new workplace, we can’t miss this.”

RK900’s mouth twitched playfully, “Oh, so you do care! The pet sitter is on her way up, we can go right away.”

Gavin planted a smooch on each animals head as he grabbed his jacket.

“Thanks to these guys we gotta stop and pick up a gift!”

RK900 smiled patronisingly, pulling a gift card out of its top pocket, “We’re covered.”

“You’re such a smug asshole, you know that?”

“I do. And that’s why you love me.”

*

Hank was looking at his phone when Connor emerged from the spare bedroom, hastily shoving it into his jacket pocket when the android walked in.

Connor raised an eyebrow, in part towards Hank’s suspicious behaviour, but more towards his outfit. He’d thought he’d seen all of Hank’s crazy dad shirts through their almost full year of working together, but this one seemed brand new. It was black, interspersed with rainbow wiggles and dots like one of those old etch-a-drawings. It looked kinda like a bowling alley carpet, in a nice way. He’d paired it with a dark grey jacket and his jeans looked… clean, for once.

Hank recovered from his flustered behaviour and regarded Connor scathingly, hands on his hips, “Nah nah nah, that won’t do.”

Amused to get fashion critique from a walking bus seat, Connor looked down at his own outfit. He’d thrown a fresh white shirt over his usual work clothes. Wasn’t ‘watching the big game with the fellas’ meant to be a casual affair?

“What’s wrong?”

Hank sighed heavily and marched Connor back into the spare bedroom with a firm hand on his shoulder.

They both still referred to the small space as the spare room, but over the past few months it had become more and more of a home to Connor.

He didn’t have many personal effects, but Hank had painted the walls a warm grey with a striped wallpaper feature wall before he officially moved in, and screwed a cork board opposite the bed. Connor had started by pinning work stuff to it, but before long it had photos of him and his friends, scribbled notes, theatre tickets, all kinds of junk that came with living a normal life. Connor didn’t really ‘sleep’ in the bed, but he liked to lie in it and look at the board during his down time.

Over the past couple of months, he’d applied for several different apartments without any luck. Even with Hank’s help. Many people in Detroit did not want androids as neighbours, it seemed. Or ex cops for that matter, but at least that was understandable.

Hank slid open the wardrobe door, rifling through Connor’s clothes. With his new found social life and public facing career, he’d discovered the need for owning more than one outfit. It was usually Steph and Trixie he went shopping with, as their respective spouses had little interest in fashion. There were a lot of greys and blues in his repertoire, but he’d recently branched out into warmer shades. Perhaps seeing 60 dressed in red alerted him to the idea that the colour might suit him too.

Hank chuckled as he pulled out Connor’s old CyberLife jacket, “You still have this thing?” It had been dry cleaned, but small signs of scuffle and smoke still remained. He wasn’t sure why, but Connor felt like it was important to keep it.

Diving back in, Hank paused on an item wrapped in plastic before pulling it out with a slow whistle, “Oh, this is nice.”

It was a cornflower blue dress shirt with pearlescent purple buttons. He didn’t recognise the name of the designer at the time, but it was way out of Connor’s price range. After seeing it tried on in the dressing room, Steph insisted (and she could be  _ very  _ insistent) on buying it for him.

Connor chuckled, “That one was Steph’s idea. It’s way too fancy, I’m saving it for a special occasion.”

Hank shrugged, thrusting the shirt on him, “Could get hit by an automated taxi tomorrow, kid. Unless you want the ‘special occasion’ to be your funeral,” he dug out a pair of pressed black dress pants and handed those over too.

Connor sighed. There was no arguing with that. At the Centre, Hank often worked with kids who had suffered a bereavement. It was fitting, in a tragic sort of way. He connected well with the clients. As a plus, the Centre offered free counseling for staff, meaning the man had come leaps and bounds in terms of his own recovery. He didn’t even keep whiskey in the house anymore.

Hank faced the wall whilst Connor changed clothes.

“How do I look?”

Hank scrutinised him for a moment before wagging a finger at his neck, “Undo just one more button, champ.”

Connor huffed but complied, un-tucking the shiny button. At least he wasn’t required to have four buttons undone, as was Hank’s usual look.

Hank nodded approvingly, “Now we’re talkin’,” he checked his watch, “Great timing too, we need to bounce.”

Connor cleared his throat, not wanting to lose this tender moment before it passed, “Uh, Hank, I, uh… I got you something.”

He reached into his dresser and pulled out a medium sized box wrapped in tissue paper.

Hank raised a surprised eyebrow, “For me?” he gently accepted the gift and began pulling away the paper.

“I wanted to say thank you for letting me stay here. I really appreciate it,” he looked anxious.

Hank chucked the paper onto the bed and held the box up at eye level. It was a beautiful display case, clear glass with that fancy no-smudge coating, adorned with a pretty silver trim. However, it was empty.

“I was cleaning one day and I found this old shoe box under the bed… I didn’t mean to pry, honestly! But... they’re Cole’s belongings, aren’t they? I just thought… well, these things preserve stuff and stop them from getting mold or damp so…”

Hank gently placed the box down onto the bed, with a sudden realisation of how expensive this thing must be. He grabbed the still-rambling Connor and pulled him roughly into a hug so that he wouldn’t see the tears pricking his eyes.

“I love it. That’s so thoughtful, thank you,” he said, thickly, trying to control his voice.

He felt Connor relax in his arms with relief, “Oh, I’m glad!”

Hank held Connor at arms length, “You shouldn’t spend that damn much on me!” he chastised, if anything just to say something that didn’t make him go all soft.

Connor grinned sheepishly, “I was able to save up with Steph buying all these clothes for me.”

Hank smiled warmly, “I’ve been trying to forget about Cole for so long. But it never helped me. Being able to look at this will be a really nice way for me to remember him,” Hank huffed, stepping back and straightening his shirt, “Right, let’s get going. I can’t show up to the bar crying like a little girl.”

Connor took that as a seal of approval and smiled happily as he followed his friend out.

Hank clipped Sumo’s lead on as they approached the front door and Connor raised an eyebrow.

Hank shrugged, “What? They let dogs in now. He doesn’t wanna miss out!”

Sumo boofed in confirmation.

Connor was sceptical of how much the large dog would really enjoy watching a loud sporting event in a dingy bar, but he didn’t press the matter further.

*

As they pulled up outside Jimmy’s Bar, Connor couldn’t help but smile fondly at the memory of meeting Hank here for the first time.

Seemingly reading his mind, Hank chuckled softly as he undid his seat belt, “I was a real asshole to you back then, huh?”

“I found your attitude quite charming, in its own special way. And I always did like a challenge.”

Connor regarded the front door as they walked up to the bar entrance. Where there had once been “NO ANDROIDS” taped in the window there were all kinds of bright stickers with a large pride flag taped up behind the glass.

“It’s been under new management for a while,” said Hank, noticing where his eyes fell.

“Did they find someone else called Jimmy to run it?”

Hank blew air out of his nose.

Strangely, the bar seemed very quiet. It was dark inside and Connor couldn’t hear anything through the door. In addition, it no longer seemed like the kind of place where burly macho men would gather to watch sports ball.

Hank gently pushed the door open in the same motion he used his other hand to guide Connor into the darkness.

The lights flashed on with a burst of rainbow confetti as the bar suddenly sprung into life.

“SURPRISE!”

Connor blinked rapidly as his eyes quickly adjusted to the change in light and took in the crowd of people cheering and yelling at him.

Carla, Tina, Steph (60 kept low behind her), Blue, Trixie, Gavin, RK900, Jeffrey Fowler, Chris, Ben, and just about anyone he was on good terms with was stood in the crowded bar beaming at him, clad in party hats and other garish attire.

A large blue banner hung up across the bar with (somewhat sloppy) pink words painted onto it: HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY CONNOR!

Shocked, he turned to Hank, who had managed to slip a foil party hat onto both his own and Sumo’s head during the confusion. Sumo boofed in excitement.

“Happy Birthday, Connor,” Hank smiled, patting his shoulder.

Carla hobbled over to him, boyfriend in tow to offer the support she needed to walk, her injuries healed but still leaving some lasting damage, “Happy birthday, buddy!”

Not one for hugging, Connor took her invitation for a friendly fist bump, “You look great! How’s working for Kamski?”

She laughed heartily, “Between you and me, for a supposed genius his computer systems are a mess!”

They chuckled.

Quick on the approach, Steph and Tina cut in, pulling Connor into a group hug, “Ooooo! I just love a surprise party!”

Connor smiled and hugged them back before clearing his throat to the expectant crowd.

“I see now that being a detective was never really my strong suit,” he announced, “Because I honestly had no idea.”

The crowd burst into laughter and applause before descending on him, offering thoughtful gifts and interesting looking thirium cocktails.

They say the androids in Detroit have this strange little tick. Like an upgrade that models in other regions didn’t get. If you look around, you might notice it. An android cooing at a cat with a baby pink LED. An android blushing at a cute barista, desperately trying to hide their LED as it flashes magenta. And here, in Jimmy’s Bar, where Connor is surrounded by the people he loves, his LED glows a rose tinted pink. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before I thank you all for reading, I must confess something. When I originally wrote the first draft for this final chapter, Kamski funded the rebuilding of the Police station and everyone got their jobs back. With my own personal feelings, and with recent events, this didn't sit right with me so I reworked it a lot. Fuck cops. ACAB. I myself, even with my privilege, have had shitty experiences with the police. I didn't choose to become obsessed with Detroit the way I have, but luckily for me I have the power in my own fic to change things. None of them are cops anymore.
> 
> I personally think this ending works so much better and shows actual development. They did shitty illegal things in the story to try and solve the case. They no longer deserve to be in any position of power. I hope you agree with me and it doesn't seem like it was just slapped on at the end, because I tried to work it in a few chapters earlier.
> 
> With that said, thank you so much for reading! I really had fun writing this, and it's actually the longest thing I've ever written!
> 
> Please stick around, I have a short spin-off chapter planned for this fic (reed900) and my visual storyboard project based on Detroit Evolution. See ya!


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